Potted Bush - Gardening Advice

[StrawberryMoonxx]

Hello,

Advice please! We have had this bush in this pot for a couple of months now (bought from a garden centre before potting). It’s looking rather sad the past couple of weeks. It’s in a semi shady spot, but it’s meant to be a hardy plant. We’ve moved it forward to get more sunlight hours. How often should we be watering this bush? Any other advice for caring for it welcome please.

I think it is a box tree which has been eaten by box tree caterpillars.

Box tree caterpillars are hard to treat, but there are nematodes which can help. The RHS has some information on this
www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/box-tree-caterpillar

Can we have a close up of the brown bits? I thought it might be box blight? But yes essentially box is a complete nightmare now, I won't grow it anymore as sadly it's just too much work. Try yew instead.

How often are you watering it?

It’s looks like Box but I think the problem is lack of water. Depending on what soil/ compost you have used it will need watering at least a couple of times a week, if not daily. If the compost has shrunk away from the sides you’ll have to find a way of soaking it in water overnight to rehydrate it.

It’s got something wrong with it..I think it’s beyond help

It looks like box blight or box caterpillars. They both turn the leaves crusty and brown. If you separate the leaves and look inside and see webs its caterpillars. If you can’t see webs it’s more likely to be blight - a fungal disease. I’ve lost a few big box to caterpillars. They don’t recover. If it’s blight you can buy fungal spays, and i’d be tempted to repot it with new soil and keep it dry. Good luck

Thanks everyone!