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Box Hedge

CormorinCormorin Posts: 3
in Problem solving
Hi

I can’t identify that disease on the box hedges as the leaf damage doesn’t seem to be like any photos on the net. 

The hedge looks like it’s got cob webs all over it. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited December 2022
    @Cormorin Hi and welcome. As soon as you mentioned cobwebs my immediate thought was Box Caterpillar? Box blight is another problem. Sadly many people have stopped growing Box because of both of these problems
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It certainly looks like that @GardenerSuze. 
    If you're in the south of the UK @Cormorin, it's become almost impossible to grow box successfully. Many people are taking it out and replacing it with something more reliable.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CormorinCormorin Posts: 3
    Thank you both. The hedging on all the other houses in this area (Fleet, Hampshire) have died over last few years, I was hoping there might be a way to save mine but it may be I have to put something else in 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Cormorin You could consider Euonymous Green Pillar which some gardeners are growing instead. No good however if you want a sphere, available at most GC's and nurseries. Price varies depending on size they can be clipped as necessary, this is the closest you will find to box in growth habit.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    That is box moth / caterpillar damage.

    I've removed most of the box in my garden. One hedge in particular (dwarf box) was always affected by blight during warm & damp spells and when the moth / caterpillar moved in it was the final straw and out it came.

    The hedge was replaced with yew but it will be tightly clipped pyramids rather than a hedge.

    I do have some box balls and another short hedge formed from a different variety of box and from a different supplier which (touch wood....) seem to be much more resistant to both blight and caterpillar - so they are still here.

    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    Some of the Pittosporums are a good substitute for Box, although the foliage colour/size/shape is different. It can be clipped into balls/domes/pyramids.

    We have Euonymus Green Spire in our garden, but leave it to follow it's natural, columnar shape. People often think it is Box, however it is not so good for clipping into a specific shape.
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