What’s eating my olive tree?

[Notreallyawaitress]

Just noticed that something has been nibbling the edges of the leaves of my struggling olive tree - can’t see any insects on it. Any ideas please?

It could be vine weevil damage, they tend to feed at night. If it is vine weevil, you should unpot it(if it's in a pot) and inspect the root ball for the grubs, as they do real damage.

I planted a climbing hydrangea a few months ago and it has the same thing. NanTheWiser is it a simple case of just removing the grubs? Will they not come back?

@cardamoncoffee, they might do, but it's important to get rid of the grubs, as they chew the roots, leading to the collapse of the plant. There is a product available called Bug Clear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer, which can be watered in, diluted as per the manufacturer's instructions, which is effective, and can be used twice a year.

NanTheWiser thank you, I’ll give the Bug Clear stuff a go. Can’t uproot the olive tree as it’s huge and in wine barrel!

Water it with vine weevil killer. Garden centres sell it - you have to do it twice a year I think. The grubs eat the roots (which is why it might be struggling) and the weevils eat the leaves.

Do all your other pots as well, as the weevils travel around a lot.

I did the treatment today, how long should it take to kill them?

It should have killed the grubs, but if there are any weevils around the garden, then they will have to eat the leaves first which should then get rid of them as well.

Google images of what adult vine weevils look like and have a look out for them.

Since I did the treatment there seems to be an infestation of adults as the leaves have all nearly been eaten. Is this normal/expected?