Can this be saved?

muppet1901

My daughter bought this box fairly recently but it now looks very poorly. Is there any hope of recovering it?

Fairygirl

Doubtful. 
Has it ever been watered? Up against a wall, in a pot - maybe in a lot of sun [?] - all the things it won't like much. Even in rain, they can need watered because rain doesn't get in through the head of foliage  
Move it into some shade and water really thoroughly and see if that helps.

The other possibility is blight or box moth - but it isn't showing any signs of that. 

muppet1901

Possibly over-watered rather than under. Will move it and see if that helps. Thanks. 

Pete.8

If it's been over watered then it means the pot isn't draining properly.
Put some pot feet under the pot to raise it off the ground a little. It can't drain properly if the hole is blocked by the paving slab.
Does the compost drain well - i.e. have you mixed in grit/perlite to ensure good drainage?

JennyJ

Does the pot have drainage holes? If it does (and they're not blocked up) then it's pretty hard to overwater a big plant like that. If there are drainage holes but the water doesn't run out of the bottom, try raising the pot a little (pot feet, pieces of flat-ish stone, something like that) so that the water flow isn't impeded.

Fairygirl

As the others have said - there must be something wrong with the drainage if you think it's overwatered. 
It's actually quite hard to overwater box 

muppet1901

Plenty of drainage - water visibly comes out from the bottom of the pot. 

We’ll try moving it. Although that rather defeats the object of purchase as she wanted it to frame the front door!

JennyJ

In that case, is it still in its original pot, inside the ornamental one? If so, check to make sure it isn't pot-bound. If the roots are filling the pot with not much compost visible at the sides/bottom that makes it hard to water well enough and also maybe not enough nutrients. The pots that plants are sold in aren't usually intended to be a long-term home.

I wouldn't normally suggest repotting this late in the year but it might be what it needs, maybe just one size up and look at it again in the spring. What does everyone else think?

Fairygirl

Can I just say - just because water is coming out the bottom, it doesn't mean it's  being absorbed properly. Once the soil in a pot dries out, it's quite difficult to rehydrate it, and the  water just runs through the gaps that have been created. It happens regularly. 
Otherwise, as @JennyJ says, it's worth checking the conditions of the root ball. Again. if the roots are pot bound, it needs dampened thoroughly, and the roots teased out. 
I wouldn't have any problem with re potting something just now, as long as it wasn't getting high nutrition. 

When you say she got it recently, how recently?

muppet1901

Thanks everyone for such helpful replies. We definitely have some things to try.