Box tree caterpillar

[Yamadori]

If anyone has box in their garden, can I suggest you go out and have a good look for caterpillars. My neighbour has a small topiary box in their front garden and judging by the feeding frenzy of about a dozen starlings all over it this morning, the caterpillar season has arrived! These box tree moth caterpillars can strip a plant bare in a couple of days, so you might need to check now.

They’re back around here. We lost an entire box hedge last year in about 3 days, it was unbelievable. Gave up and ripped the whole thing out.

Some parts of the country suffer worse from it than others I think.

@CrumpetsandJammmm If you want to replace the hedge, apparently ilex crenata is recommended as it looks very similar to box, but doesn't suffer the same issues.

Put a trap out today and sprayed with nematodes earlier this week but too late for one of our two bushes and the other is looking iffy. They do come back eventually but I think it might be a losing battle from now on so thanks for the tip about ilex crenata - that might be the way to go. Shame, as we planted them as plugs 20 years ago when we bought the house and they were looking lovely.

DH has cut them both right back today so they look a bit naked but a lot better (and easier to spray).

The fuckers.

I really want a spiral. But I think I may just be throwing money away

It gets worse for people fond of topiary - there's a new disease affecting yews in the UK now, it is being investigated by DEFRA. It's called Cryptoline taxicola.

Lost a whole 7 metre long hedge, 3 enormous box balls and other box bushes. After spraying and picking, even moth catching we gave up and ripped the lot out

I picked the caterpillars off last year but it was too late so cut the box down to almost nothing, intending to dig it out. It came back to life so am going to get nematodes this year, along with my ladybird larvae, lacewing larvae and indoor fungus gnat nematodes, life has become expensive.

I also spend ages picking off rosemary beetles from the lavender. That was due to buying from an organic lavender farm.

Thanks for the heads up. My hedge that I have been growing from cuttings for 8 years is covered in them. 😭

I heard on the radio someone vacuumed their hedges. It did make me laugh, prob works v well but I just couldn't 😖

Yep. They are eating mine as we speak. Hoping starlings will get a few but too many cats on the estate have scared off all the birds ( except magpies obviously which aren’t interested in scraping off insects).
I’ve bought some toxins but not feeling hopeful.

This happened to my in-law’s hedges a few weeks ago! They went on holiday for a fortnight and returned to dead hedges. The caterpillars were everywhere, and we saw several hanging from the tree. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.

This happened to my box hedge last summer.
I found a German chemical on Amazon which you dilute and spray over the Bush and that, in conjunction with picking the fuckers off, seemed to do the job. It's looking good so far this year.

I don’t think I’m going to risk getting a spiral considering how much they cost. Wondering if there are other types out there are spiral but a different type.

We've given up and are taking ours out. It's a huge area around the edge of a large lawn so spraying was becoming costly and time consuming.

I have two, probably 50 year old, box hedges and they are crawling with caterpillars. I picked off what I could in 3 hours yesterday, hundreds of them, and have ordered the biological spray plus moth traps but I fear it may be too little too late. Can't believe the mess they have made.

Don't use chemicals you buy off Amazon, god knows what's in it. Some insecticides are horrendously toxic to humans as well as the environment and Amazon does not seem to be following any kind of legislation.

If you have a hosepipe you could try blasting the critters off, or use a pressure washer (she says with trepidation!). The box leaves are damaged by the pests anyway, so there's nothing to lose.

I spent Saturday jet washing, picking off caterpillars then spraying with specific pesticide. Hours of fun picking off caterpillars can be had, and sociable (box is front hedge, all neighbours affected and let's say, the older kids came in handy fetching pimms and lemonade (they are adults!)

Upside is that the great tits, seagulls and crows have all been tucking in, the pesticide is bird safe. Only U.K. supplier is everyone's "favourite" American company, it's Dutch I think

@Planttreeseverywhere they are distributing a Dutch companies product that is fully tested. You can also buy directly from the manufacturer but brexit rules meant delays!

Appreciate that, but the use of pesticides is highly regulated. Does it have a UK Mapp number for example? Is it approved for use by non-proffesionals? Is it approved for the equipment and PPE you are using? For use in domestic situations? Is the active ingredient approved by CRD? Of any of these are no, you are breaking the law

Update. I sprayed mine with a mix of soap, lavender, chilli, garlic and vinegar. To be fair all the caterpillars popped out in horror. Might slow them down.

1 year on after they first appeared and they have won. We are ripping up the hedge. Have had enough of going out at all hours and picking off the buggers. Nothing worked.