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buxus caterpillar

J_clark1976J_clark1976 Posts: 19
in Problem solving
Tried all non chemical options and now there's hundreds, best to pull up and start again with something different or persevere?
 

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  • B3B3 Posts: 26,994
    edited August 2019
    I'd start again with something different. There was a thread a little while back with some good suggestions. I think one if them was lonicera.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • J_clark1976J_clark1976 Posts: 19
    Thank you, looked at lonicera, but growth rate is quite high. friend suggested ILEX CRENATA,  but new to me, but I have decided to take the lot out and start fresh with something else, but would still like some other suggestions. 


  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,241
    Oh - btm - you're only in the next county... If those descend on my plants I'm having the whole lot out. Have been battling blight ever since the damned stuff went in 5 years ago and caterpillars would be the final straw.

    Apparently 2013 / 14 was a particularly bad year for box blight and I'm pretty sure the disease came in with the bare root plants I bought - all 300 or so of them. It was a massive task getting them in the ground at the end of a particularly cold spring and they've been a constant source of angst ever since.

    Unfortunately, when they're looking good there is absolutely nothing as fine as a manicured hedge of buxus - but sometimes life is just too short. Lonicera is too fast growing to be a decent replacement. Several people recommend the ilex crennata and I'd also look at yew - apparently it can be kept very low - but I'm not too sure how successful it would be. There's also a dwarf berberis which might be worth checking out.

    Didn't Beechgrove do a trial of alternatives to box? Not too sure how relevant their findings would be for us in the hot dry SE though.

    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,158
    edited August 2019
    Beechgrove had a couple of lonicera, one was "Tidy tips" the other was "Baggesen's Gold". I think the presenter preferred the "Tidy tips" one . 
    I think another was a cotoneaster,  possibly simonsii ?
    There's also Osmanthus burkwoodii.
    There may be more ideas here
    https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/box-hedge-alternatives.html

    A lot depends on how quickly you need it to grow.  :)

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