Going to Gerten's this morning to hopefully get a diagnosis on my dying Elderberry... anyone ever had any experience with borers?

Borers are a common problem in many tree's and shrubs and even certain vegetables and fruits. Most borers are the larvae of moths or beetles. The flat headed apple borer is a monster to deal with.

The best way to prevent borers is to keep all dead litter away from the base of the plants. On trees, I use vet wrap from the ground up, it stretches allowing the tree to grow but keeps the borers from depositing their eggs at the base. Also draw in natural predators such as birds and lizards.

Bird houses, small water features, ponds, and rock retaining walls will all attract birds and lizards in for natural control as well as prey insects such as the spined soldier beetle, preying mantis, ladybugs (fantastic aphid control both adult and larvae stages). Contact your State Agricultural Dept. And find out exactly what borer affects your elderberries and if there is a host plant or weed nearby that harbors it.

Such as dock weed harbors the Rhubarb borer. After destroying all the dock within 150 feet of my Rhubarb patch, I no longer have the borer problem in my Rhubarb. Also, once you see the 'sawdust' entrance hole of the borer, you can insert a small needle with a syringe filled with an insectide to kill that particular borer.

However, as I stated the best practice is to keep litter away from the elderberry patch, and ask your State Ag. Extension about host plants or other eradication methods. Hope this helps :).

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