Box hedge naked on sides!

[Kombuchawannabe]

Hello all, please can you help. I have a box hedge which was decimated by caterpillars recently. I have got rid of the caterpillars now but once we pruned it (it was bulging before) and got rid of outside leaves, its clear that they had damaged the hedge a lot more than we thought. The sides are basically naked with some green on top. I would be sad to get rid of it. Is there anything I can plant in front of it that might grow up and into the hedge to give it some green and life whilst it recovers or should I consider replacing it. I have even thought about painting it but my husband is not keen. It just looks so sad and bring the front of the house down. Any thoughts/advice would be welcome.

I am sorry to hear that. How long it it take to recover in the past? Did you do anything to help growth? Also, what did you replace your hedge with please?

Fellow box hedge owner here - spend my life trying to keep them looking good, it really is a battle at the moment. Box will grow from old wood so the sides will green up, if there’s still decent growth on the top it should be fine. I’d plant annuals in front of it to brighten it up a bit, but you should start to see new growth soon.

If there is some green it will bounce back! I give mine a good feed of blood and bone to help growth. I also have a pheromone trap for adult moths which helps keep them down and gives me a good idea of when to spray.

if it gets to the point where the above becomes more hassle then ripping out and replacing them I would probably replace with Christmas box.

You can get box moth repellent, I noticed in the garden centre the other day - that's probably worth considering as it grows back. Don't know what it's made of or quite what you do with it. (I don't have any box. And nor do my next door neighbours any more.)

I've got to take mine out, got attacked whilst on holiday last year

I buy Topbuxus Xentari from Amazon which I find is the only thing that kills the caterpillars, and I spray every couple of weeks during the summer to keep them away. I've found that it takes ages before the last of the eggs finish hatching out. I was a bit late spraying my box trees this spring and the caterpillars moved in with a vengeance. I spent hours and hours picking them off the bushes. It's not much help if you've got big hedges, but we've replaced most of our potted buxus with Ilex crenata now, which look very similar and don't seem to be affected by any pests.

It was a constant battle and the catepillars beat us, 😭

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/shrubs/box-alternatives

Thank you for this. Are there any annuals you would recommend?