How do I treat cobwebs and dead leaves on my LillyPilly?

Hi Kerrin,

Thank you for sending the photo of your lillypilly. It looks as though you have a webbing caterpillar that is damaging your plants. Because this caterpillar protects itself in between the leaves which it folds together, it is difficult to contact and kill this pest. Perhaps the best way of tackling this problem is to put on a long pair of gloves and hand remove all those dead leaves and cobwebs that are on the branches of the tree. You will then have a better chance of contacting the pest with an insecticide. We would suggest you use either a Yates Pyrethrum Insect Pest Killer Concentrate spray or a product called Success Ultra Insecticide. The little dotty black debris you are seeing on the pavers, is likely to be what that caterpillars is excreting. I am sure after 2 to 3 applications of either of these products, the caterpillar problem will be solved.