Box hedge

[boxhedge1]

We bought a new house at the end of last year and inherited an ornamental box hedge in the garden. It had box hedge caterpillar and I have managed to get rid of it. While some is growing back, there is quite a bit which looks awful! I think it might have had a caterpillar infestation for a while....

Does anyone have advice on whether it can be saved and what I should do? I've bought box hedge food but I haven't pruned it and am a novice gardener so unsure what to do and whether to dig up and replant or if it can be rejuvenated?

We had the Asian caterpillar, for which it has no known predators. If you decide to keep the hedge it will be a lot of hard work as it needs checking all the time for the caterpillars. We had traps with pheromones in to catch the moths and we also sprayed with an organic spray, I can’t remember the name of it. The fungicides either didn’t work or was just so expensive. We had a lot of box hedging, like a maze.

if I can remember the name of the powder which was then mixed with water, I’ll post….http://jamestodman.com/blog/five-ways-to-beat-the-box-tree-caterpillar/

We lived in France but I hope the above link works..good luck

I think you would be fighting a losing battle. I had a box hedge which was beautiful but got decimated virtually overnight with box tree caterpillars. I fought them for another year but in the end pulled the hedge out and replaced it with laurel, looks good and low maintenance.

I'm about to replace mine with Ilex crenata but I'm really disappointed as it's taken 8 years to grow my box hedge.

How upsetting. I would uproot it and burn it. Don't replant with Box, find another more resilient plant, rosemary? Lavender? Better suggestions will come from others.

Thanks everyone- I should have said I still have a lot of it and that's in much better condition so I'm trying to work out whether these bad bits can be brought back to life or if I should replant? Here's a pick of the other bit - it's a bit like a parterre garden (or it used to be!!) so it would be a huge amount of work to dig out and replant.

OP…that’s exactly what we had…a parterre. It can be brought back to life I assure you. We did because it was an intrinsic part of the garden. I thought I’d cut it back too much originally and the sun had scorched it but it all came back beautifully green. If you decide to keep it, the traps and the pheromones that attract the male moths, together with the Xentari work really well BUT you have to stay on top of it!

Thanks Rugby! You've given me hope Do you think I should cut back where there's no shoots and hope that encourages more growth? What time of year did you prune yours?

Cut it hard back. I also clipped off the bits near the ground so the air can circulate and cleaned out any debris around the base and also tried to thin it out a bit between plants so the air can move around and there are fewer places to hide. Mine is still alive but it's an ongoing battle and doesn't look as uniform as I'd like. I'm going to give it another chance next year then decide if its a futile battle.

After you cut it back, sprinkle fertiliser over the top. You’ll be surprised how quickly it comes back.