Hi,

This is my first post...hope I'm in the right newsgroup. I have (had) a
tarragon plant. Half of it became gnarly and stunted. Being near the grass
I had thought that the weedkiller my husband had put on the grass was the
cause, except that he said he hadn't put some near there.

This is what happened today. I pulled the stunted part out. The stalks
pulled off very easily. The ends with part of the root attached looked
warty. When digging the roots out, it broke apart easily. There were what
appeared to be little black balls in the dirt. Bringing one inside, it soon
opened up..an insect with many short legs about 1/4 inch long. I pulled all
the rest of the tarragon out, saving the good stalks to use.

Then I went to where another plant, a groundcover that has short stems with
purple flowers (don't know the name, but someone told me it was a weed) had
the same problem. They were gnarled and dying. They pulled off at their
base with very little effort. Uprooting some I found the same insect.

Noticing a similar problem with a peony bush, I pulled off a few twisted
stems. They pulled off easily, and the roots looked like something had
gotten to them. Could the same insect be the problem?

Can anyone tell me what is causing the damage and how it can be controlled
or eliminated. Also, what other plants can be harmed by the same insect.
I'd like to take preventive measures if other plants could suffer from that
invasive insect.

TIA,
Jo