Box Moth

Hi, I have a bux. Last year caterpillars attacked it and now it's all grey and no leafs. Please see pics. Is it salvageable or a lost cause? I heard somewhere if trunk is OK it should grow with treatment. Happy for people's thoughts and suggestions. Thku...

 

@RaM
The RHS has a list of alternatives to box.
List of the best box alternatives / RHS.

 

I get similar, although last year was not as bad as the year before.

There are a few old box trees in the woods where I walk and they are years old with stems 6ins in diameter and they are all leafless.

You can get caterpillar specific sprays but it would need repeating regularly.

 

I’d give up on it. I battled against the caterpillars for about 6 yrs, picking them off religiously from April to Sept, but they won in the end. I left the skeleton branches in situ and ivy is clothing it gradually. Evergreen and trouble free!

 

That happened to me last summer. I didn't even know it was box until the moths arrived! There were so many they were all flying up out of the grass as I mowed it.

I removed it, and noticed a neighbour a few doors down removed theirs at the same time. I would have better off leaving it like @ViewAhead as it was the only thing holding the neighbour's fence up!

 

That's the sort of size that would be of interest to wood engravers for print making.

 

Yes it was the preferred wood for chisel handles and such like as well,very hard and dense.

 

I became very well aware of how hard it was when I cut mine down! Filled two green bins with the stuff.

 

Some time ago I saw Chris Beardshaw, cut box back to near the ground and half bury it with compost. The hedge regrew, but I think it took a couple of seasons to be a decent size. Probably the moth returned later so maybe not worth it. At the College Gardens where I volunteer, they have removed nearly all the box as it's become affected.

 

We had box moth damage for the first time last year.

I’ve already hung up some pheromone traps (yes I know it’s early but am being super cautious aka paranoid) and have my link to order nematodes on standby. Am hoping we can keep the damage to a minimum.

We have a box knot garden near the house and also a 4ft high box hedge separating off our wild garden area. They are such important features, I would be sad to loose them. You can get a spray which is supposed to be very effective but it’s non-organic and less discriminating than the nematodes so we have agreed that if the traps/nematodes plus us and the birds picking off caterpillars isn’t enough then we will admit defeat.

We are ready for battle

 

The birds won’t eat them sadly! I’m not sure if the caterpillars’ colouring puts them off or webbing makes them sticky to swallow.

 

The spray is Bacillus thuringiensis. It's organic insofar as it's a bacteria that targets caterpillars and only them, no chemical involved. The only caterpillars affected are the ones on the plant treated. It's preventative and curative and works within hours on an infested plant. It's only drawback as far as I can see is the need to reapply after rain.

 

I will look again @noisette47 but I think the level of chemicals it contains would still put me off. It has a shelf life of two years, all the live nematode treatments I could find only have a shelf life of a couple of weeks. Plus it claims to start killing the caterpillars after an hour, which even live nematodes can’t do.With “just” nematodes you don’t need to reapply after rain but it is a treatment you repeat to catch successive generations/hatchings.

We definitely had Tits going after ours @ViewAhead and taking them away. We had a nest box of Great Tits who were quite active on the knot for a while. I guess you are right though, in that they are only getting the ones they can see and reach easily so already emerged from their webs having done some damage already.

 

Forgot to ask @noisette47 for the name of the spray. The spray I found with good reviews but is nonorganic was TopBuxus. The nematodes we will get are a live sachet which you then mix with water and use as a spray