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Box not looking very well!
BettyWales
Posts: 71
I’ve had these two box in pots by my front door for a few years without a problem. I keep them well watered as they are sheltered a bit by the building overhang but we are prone to a prevailing westerly wind which comes along the coast. I think maybe the very cold winds we had through spring this year may have caused them to be in their current state 😖 I’ve fed them with liquid seaweed (as recommended to me) I’ve more recently tried a multi purpose feed but am just wondering if they’re likely to recover and produce new growth or am I wasting my time? Btw I don’t believe it to be a box blight problem….any suggestions welcome please 😊
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https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/box-tree-caterpillar/#:~:text=You will also see copious,as frass – pale yellow flakes.&text=You may also notice the,white webbing among the foliage.&text=You may see the eggs,flat and overlap each other.
I thought I had examined my box trees well before the winter, but they have come through the winter looking like yours but worse. Some stems completely bleached. In March/April I looked closely and found a few 1cm caterpillars and a few 3cm ones amongst webbing/cocoons and folded, dead and eaten leave. I killied these by squeezing.
The damage on my plants (in open ground, some parterre and different size balls. Some small-leaved, some big and a few "maculata") is worse low down and in shade. Also deep within the plants. Do they not like sun?
I sprayed thoroughly with Bug Clear Ultra systemic and thought I had killed them all, though they may have just moved on. My mantra is to prune before mid-summer, so this is what I am currently doing. (Global warming may have changed this advice.) The pruning has revealed even more damage and cocoons, but non active.
Today I came across two moths; They are quite attractive. I may have to do another round of spraying - too many plants just for hand picking.
I have an excess of Bug Clear for Vine Weevil, does anyone know whether this would be OK to spray on foliage?
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
PS. The reason given for mid-summer pruning is that a later pruning would lead to later growth that would not be winter-hardy enough. So the wind damage you surmise might be a cause.
PPS. I aslo get dead patches, but more concentrated, from cats' pee.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
not sure re the answer to that , but I do not think this is allowed to be used in open ground at all. It is however a systemic insecticide so soil drench presumably as effective as foliar spray for your purpose as long as the caterpillars or potential caterpillars are feeding.
It also needs to be applied underneath the leaves and right into the heart of the box. When l was getting rid of several box plants l lost count of the number of caterpillars on each one, plus ones that still had to "hatch". They are extremely clever at burying themselves right inside.