Thyme box hedge caterpillar repellent

Posts

• Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494

  April 2021

  I don't think they are yet available to the general public as it's an experiment to see whether it works. You could either buy some small thyme plants or perhaps even the packets/bottles of dried thyme from a supermarket/wholefood shop and decant them into little muslin bags to hang on the hedge.
  Frankly I'm not going to bother, I have too many box hedges/balls for that to be viable and if I have the same problem with the caterpillars this year, I'm ripping the whole lot out.  It will give me a fresh opportunity to replenish the soil, replant with something else and save on the twice yearly clipping.

  North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone

  0
• Athelas Posts: 946

  April 2021

  Yes, I don’t think they’re available yet.

  
  

  I’ve had good results with Topbuxus Xentari (from Amazon UK) — small granules containing a type of bacteria that you dissolve in water and spray on the leaves when the caterpillars are active. The caterpillars eat the box leaves and ingest the bacteria, which then produce toxins in the caterpillars’ guts that eventually kills them. One box of Xentari lasts me the whole year, but I only have a few box plants, having replaced most with Euonymus topiary balls.

  Cambridgeshire, UK

  1
• AnniD Posts: 12,585

  April 2021

  I was reading an article about this product, but have no idea if its efficacy. You can also buy it as a spray. It may be worth doing some more research if you're interested in it.
  https://www.richardjacksonsgarden.co.uk/shop/pest-weed-control/500ml-concentrate-box-plant-health-cleanse-and-shine/
  

  0
• B3 Posts: 27,505

  April 2021

  You can get 100% thyme essential oil. I wonder if that would be any good.

  In London. Keen but lazy.

  0