HELP!! box caterpillar is murdering my topiary bushes!!

[jeanswithatwist]

just that, nightmare. am fighting a losing battle and desperately upset :0(

Oh no! Are you in London? There has been an outbreak there and I think a lot of people are terrified of it spreading. ow awful for you.

The RHS are advising that you contact them to confirm the ID: [email protected].

I think then the organic option is nematodes, the inorganic one pyrethum. Perhaps speak to the RHS and see what they advise? I very, very rarely advise people to go in hard with insect killing products, but this may be one case where it's justified and necessary to stop the spread.

I thought the best way was to mash the buggers?

Well, 'where practical' anyway
Good luck, OP

thanks. been on the net alot the last few days inc royal horticultural society who have a whole thing about it and my bloomin' area specifically gets mentioned a few times so we are being invaded. thing is, i don't like killing them so feel upset every time i spray them, poor buggers but i love my topiary bushes more......i think it is too late to save them (the bushes...) despite spraying them with the best stuff i can find more than once. dread going in the garden as it appears worse each time and have loved my garden this summer

You poor thing! It is so upsetting when something gets torn to shreds, isn't it?

I would contact the RHS directly - it sounds as though there are real concerns about how invasive this species is and they may be able to advise. I don't know what the best option is. I hate advising the use of insecticides because they do so much wider damage, but if it's a matter of containing a population, maybe it is justified. I just don't know.

No advice but lots of sympathy. I lost a whole box parterre to box blight. It was my pride and joy and utterly heartbreaking.

ancestra thanks. did you replace it or get a different plant/shrub to take its place?

Um, I moved house...