Help needed with Buxus Plants!

Hi Everyone

I'm new here and looking for some help and advice on Buxus Plants please.

I've purchased a pair of premium quality topiary Buxus plants from Gardening Express twice in the last 2 years but can never seem to keep them looking green and healthy and want to ask for some help and advice.

The first pair of Buxus plants were purchased on the 15th January 2023 but these eventually turned brown and looked like they had died so I disposed of them and purchased a second pair on the 8th March 2025 but these eventually suffered the same fate as the first pair I purchased but I have kept them as they are.

I am using a good-sized pot to plant them in, then placing broken crockery in the bottom for good drainage and filling the pot with John Innes Multi-Purpose Compost. I have also tried using the John Innes Compost No. 2 as well as using a peat-free topsoil first in the pot followed by the compost on top of this but only did this for the first pair of Buxus plants I purchased. During the summer, I water the plants regularly, combined with using Westland's Buxus 2 in 1 Feed & Protect.

The plants do grow well to begin with, and I keep them trimmed using garden shears but find this is where I begin to encounter problems afterwards as I notice some leaves turn brown, which I remove but then it just spreads. Is Box Blight killing these plants or is it something I’m not doing right?

I don't want to keep purchasing new ones all the time but would rather find a solution to the problem and hopefully bring back to life the pair I still have. I have attached a couple of photos showing them in their current state.

Joanna

 

Agree, it looks very much like box moth caterpillar damage, the plant probably isn't dead but it is unlikely to recover as they will attack again next year.

 

Annoying but it may be better to give up with the Box if you are having the same problem each year.
As well as the Sarcococca, another suggestion would be Lonicera nitida.

 

I removed all my Box this year due to box moth caterpillar damage. Not worth battling with it. Other alternatives if you want evergreen topiary are Yew, Ilex crenata and Euonymus Green Spire.

 

I volunteer at Capel Manor, they have given up on most of their box too. The combined threats of the moth and blight have proved too much for most. As well as the suggestions above check out the RHS website, they have been trialing a number of alternatives.
One thing to remember about Ilex Crenata is that it requires much damper conditions than box.

 

I had a very long established box hedge in my front garden and lost it to box moth last year. I have cut it all down and put Eleagnus in. Not a topiary option of course but a nice evergreen with scented flowers.

 

Ilex Crenata also grows glacially slowly, so buy a decent sized specimen to start with if you go for that.

I lost my Box completely after 4 yrs of picking off the caterpillars and trying to help it recover. I have left the bare branches in place and am letting ivy cover these, so I still have an evergreen backdrop and shelter for the birds.

 

Good idea. I only realised after I removed mine that it had been propping up the neighbour's fence, which promptly fell down.

 

The cheapest chemical solution I've found is to spray with Decis. It kills the caterpillars and prevents damage. A little goes a long way, mix ratio is about 1.2ml per litre of water and it comes in a litre bottle. A bottle will cost you less than a pair of replacement plants and spraying once per month from March to September should keep the plants looking perfect.

I'm not a fan of chemical intervention but at work it's often a case of doing the job or losing the job.

 

Buxus does flower. The flowers are tiny and often hidden by foliage.

 

How right you are! My bees take no notice of my box plants - I learned something new today! I've edited my post so as to not mislead anyone

 

The flower stink, like cats pee.

 

The box moth obviously has no sense of smell . Strangely, I like the smell of box flowers and foliage but I don’t like Christmas box.