Wasp Nest in a Hedge or Bush – What Southborough Garden Owners Should Know
Clematis, honeysuckle and ivy on a fence make a pretty screen and a very good hiding place, so here is how to check one without touching it.
A curtain of leaves with a gap behind
Climbing plants are grown to cover things, and they do it well. A fence or trellis dressed in honeysuckle, jasmine, clematis or ivy ends up with a thick layer of foliage and a hollow space behind it, between the plant and the panel. That gap is dry, sheltered, warm and very quiet, and wasps find it just as attractive as a roof space.
Southborough gardens next to Tunbridge Wells are no different from any others in this respect: if there is a climber on a fence, there may be a nest behind it. The nest can grow all summer without being seen, because the leaf cover hides the entrance and the papery shell. By August the colony may hold from 2,000 to 10,000 wasps or more, and the fence is only a few millimetres of wood away from the other side.
A pergola or arch covered in climbers can hide a nest just as well, particularly where the stems are thick and tangled at the top.
What to look for on the plant
Because the nest is behind the leaves, look at the traffic.
- Wasps disappearing into the foliage at one point and re-emerging at the same place.
- A steady stream of wasps crossing the lawn to the fence at a single spot.
- A gap between the plant and the fence panel, visible from the side, with wasps entering.
- A pale grey, paper-like edge showing at a join between panels or at the top of a post.
- A hum that you can hear when you stand near the fence on a still day, even though nothing seems to be moving.
Look from several metres away and from more than one angle. A different position often reveals an entrance that was hidden from the first.
Trellis panels attached to a house wall deserve a particular mention. A nest behind a climber on the wall of a house can lead wasps into a gap at a soffit or airbrick, so what starts as a garden problem may become an indoor one. If you notice wasps in a bedroom or on a window near the climber, say so when you ring.
Late in the season, the same fence may show scorch marks of wasps' activity: bare, grey patches on the wood where they have scraped fibres off. That is a handy clue, since a lot of scraping near a particular plant tells you where they have been working.
Why not to pull back the leaves
The natural instinct is to peel the plant away from the fence to see. Do not. Pulling a climber from a panel shakes the whole fence and everything behind it, and you will be at arm's length from the nest when the colony responds.
Pruning is the other trap. Cutting back a climber with secateurs or shears sends small vibrations along the stems into the nest, and you are standing right in front of it. Leave clematis, honeysuckle and ivy alone for now, and do not water or feed them close to the activity.
If the climber covers a gate, a shed or a door frame, avoid using that route until the nest is dealt with. A door that shakes the frame can be just as disturbing as a pair of shears.
Keep chairs, hammocks and washing lines away from the fence for now, and do not lean ladders or bikes against it. Anything that taps or shakes the panel counts. It is also worth warning any visiting tradespeople, such as a window cleaner or a painter, who may lean against the fence without thinking.
A neighbour on the other side
A fence has two sides, and a nest behind a climber may be easier to reach, or easier to hear, from the other. If your neighbour owns the fence or the plant, tell them what you have seen. They may have noticed more wasps on their side, or be about to cut their own hedge.
The technician will need access to whichever side offers the best approach. Make that easy by agreeing a time with your neighbour and telling them how long to keep children and pets inside.
A pergola or arch is slightly different from a fence because people walk under it. If wasps are going into the stems over a path, stop using the path and close it off with a chair or a cane across it, well back from the plant.
Treatment and booking
A fully insured, qualified technician will treat the nest in one visit. The cost is fixed at £120 per nest, and £60 for an additional nest at the same address. There is no call-out charge. We cover the area around Southborough for homes and businesses, are open seven days a week and offer same-day service as well as evening and weekend appointments.
You can reach us on 01622 410 019, or use the online booking form on the contact page. Describe the climber, the fence or trellis and where the traffic enters. Mention any allergy in the household so the booking can be prioritised.
Ask the technician whether the empty nest can be taken down, and whether the climber needs to be cut back.
Looking after the climber afterwards
Wait for the technician's go-ahead before you prune or tie anything in. When the time comes, cut back and thin the plant in sections, with a pause between each. A thinner climber lets more light in and makes any new nest easier to see.
From late April onwards, take a quick walk along the fence once a week and watch for wasps entering the foliage. A nest spotted in May is small, and the same job in August is harder and riskier.
Wasps on your property in Southborough?
Fixed price £120 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.