It's called a scale insect. Barely a few millimetres long. And it's winning the war against the village's gardeners. This white-shelled creature arrived from Asia a few years back and is methodically taking over the mulberries, citrus trees, and certain ornamental shrubs across the peninsula. The result: sticky leaves, branches dying back, plants exhausted.
In Saint-Tropez, the technical services watch the invasion unfold without finding any truly effective defence. Chemical treatments? Banned, or too harsh on the environment. Natural predators, like certain ladybirds? Not enough of them to reverse the tide. That leaves severe pruning of affected branches, a drastic solution that solves nothing in the long run.
Local plant nurseries, some still selling infested stock without realizing it, are beginning to wake up to the problem. But the creature travels well: a single gust of mistral is enough to spread larvae from one garden to the next. In the village streets, locals pass on tips, try black soap, essential oils, high-pressure water. With mixed results.
While waiting for a real collective strategy, the scale insect carries on its conquest at leisure. And our hundred-year-old mulberries? They endure in silence.
