In recent years, there has been an increase in cases of horse chestnut trees being affected by leaf-miners in Odessa. This issue is not isolated to our city but is also prevalent in various European cities.

Since 2017, to prevent the adverse effects of infestations, specialists from the Municipal Enterprise 'City Green Trust' have been annually vaccinating the horse chestnuts with a specialized solution.

To administer the injection into the tree's vascular tissue, a small hole is created, allowing the solution to spread internally through the leaves, making them unpalatable to the leaf-miners. As a result, the larvae perish. This method of pest control is permitted in populated areas as it poses no threat to the environment or the trees themselves.

In 2025, a total of 1000 trees were vaccinated.

Note
The leaf-miner is a hazardous pest for horse chestnuts. The larvae live and feed inside the leaves, leading to their destruction and causing considerable harm to urban chestnut plantings. In Europe, the damage caused by this type of pest is estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros annually, raising questions about the viability of cultivating horse chestnuts in urban settings. The harm caused by the larvae results in the canopy's inability to accumulate sufficient nutrients, increasing the risk of winter die-off.