I wonder if anyone has encountered this problem and found a lasting
solution to it. We have two half standard bays which are excellent
but for the continuing presence of caterpillars which damage the
leaves, particularly new softer leaves.

The caterpillars are of the leaf roller type but as the leaves are too
rigid to roll they stick adjoining leaves together and, in the safety
of the leaf sandwich they munch the surface layers leaving large brown
or semi transparent patches.

I have also noticed the same caterpillars on one of our Choisya
shrubs.

It looks as though they are the larvae of the Carnation tortrix moth,
Cacoecimorpha pronubana, which is a problem as I cannot find any
readily available effective controls online.

If anyone has discovered anything that works. I have tried a
thiachloprid (which being a neonicotinoid I only use as a last resort)
but so far even drenching the bays with it has not solved the problem.
--
rbel