Black Fly - all over the hedge

JackieO

ok, so was out doing a bit of gardening last night and I notice that my lovely hedge is covered in black insects (kinda like green fly only a little bit bigger and black). I know by looking at them that they are not doing my plants any favours.

Any ideas what they might be and how I could get rid of them.

The Sweeper

JackieO,

What sort of hedge do you have? What's the soil underneath it like? How big is the hedge, and when did you plant it?

You can buy sprays in the shops to deal with fly infestations, or use an organic alternative white oil spray.

JackieO

Cheers

I'm a complete novice at this gardening lark so not sure about what type of soil I have..............one with lots of stones, thats all I know!

The hedge has been down about 3 years and is about 4 foot high. Don't know the name of it off the top of my head but I'll try to find out.

I'll try the spray - want to do something fast before half of its been eaten away.

Sonnenblumen

What you're seeing are flying ants, the larger ones (female) are waiting to mate with much smaller males before migrating to new nesting sites.

It's an annual event and nothing to be too concerned about, although in recent years the numbers seem to have grown considerably.

JackieO

Its a Prunus laurocerasus - or cherry laurel 'etna'.

If its just the ants mating then I might leave it a week or two.

Sonnenblumen

JackieO

have they moved on?