We have only one serious enemy at present - its the dreaded Rosemary beetle. This seems to have arrived in the country from South America or Southern Europe (some debate on this point) in the past 6 years and is quietly eating Rosemary and Lavender in gardens throughout the south of England. It is not so easy to spot on the Rosemary plants as it is suitably camouflaged but on the Lavender it is very easy to spot. It tends to rise to the top of the lavender plant and can be picked off by hand very easily. Fortunately it doesn’t sting or bite and is slow moving. We hate to advise that the only solution is to kill the Beetle as it has the capacity to lay scores of eggs that will hatch into little light grey slugs with dark stripes. The adult is pretty and is similar in size and shape to the ladybird but is a shiny very dark metallic green colour with faint red stripes. To the casual observer it looks like a shiny black ladybird.
