Question
Help!I live in yorkshire england, and for the first time have been infested with brown hairy caterpillers (nearest likeness I can find is the ruby tiger moth caterpiller)...around an inch long, curls when you touch it, anyway they have been chomping through every single leaf on every plant in my garden, roses, rubarb, daliah, my cherry tree leaves are gone (could it be them) a small web or cacoon can be seen when when you open the curled up leaf of the tree, where they came from I dont know but nothing is sacred and my plants are stripped! It is now the end of october and they are still here..my local garden centre gave me a spray.. no effect whatsoever..my honysuckle leaves are curling up too....some have just the skeleton of the leaf left...although I have never actually seen or caught a caterpiller on them, I am fed up, can you help? Liz  

Answer
For controlling caterpillars, you need to apply a product called BT, short for Bacillus Thuringiensis. This product is organic and comes only in powder form. It is commonly sold under the names Dipel, Green Step, or MVP. If you cannot find it at your local garden center, you can purchase it online at either Planet Natural or Gardens Alive.

Another organic control that is effective against caterpillars and worms is diatomaceous earth. This product is comprised of crushed fossilized diatoms. Although it is broken down into a fine powder, the shavings are extremely abrasive to soft-bodied creatures, such as caterpillars, worms, and centipedes. When they crawl through the powder, their bodies absorb the substance through their exoskeleton, causing them to slowly die from dehydration. In short, the abrasive shavings result in very small cuts on the worm's body causing them to lose fluid and perish.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/diatomaceous-earth.html

I hope this information helps. Good luck, and please write again if I can ever be of assistance.  

Regards,  

Mike