Caterpillars killed my bush. What now?
Discussion
T5GRF said:
Yes it’s a bacteria. I’ve used leftover solution 2 weeks after making it up and it seemed to still nuke the b
ds.
I’ve been spraying last weekend too as they’re back.
I sprayed every 14 days last spring/summer until October and it worked a treat - my plants have never looked more healthy.
Hopefully the bloody birds will start learning to eat the caterpillars….
ds.I’ve been spraying last weekend too as they’re back.
I sprayed every 14 days last spring/summer until October and it worked a treat - my plants have never looked more healthy.
Hopefully the bloody birds will start learning to eat the caterpillars….
Cheers for the reply. Sounds like good news, I'll use up the remainder after Coronation weekend. If I'm honest, I could probably dose the whole hedge with half, or even a third of the solution. I went over it twice last time, and still only used two thirds of it. I haven't got a "proper" garden sprayer, so I mixed the solution in two batches, one in an old kitchen cleaner spray bottle and another in an empty 2 litre drink bottle, roughly splitting the powder 1:2. I'm probably going to end up with the healthiest Box hedge in the street, but constant pain from RSI in my hand after about a bajillion trigger-squeezes. I should probably invest in a small garden pressure sprayer, as I'm pretty sure these caterpillars aren't going away of their own volition any time soon.
motco said:
Diderot said:
motco said:
Diderot said:
Diderot said:
We’ve had ours decimated by the bds last year. Thanks for the advice above, will give that a try.
Just to report that the box hedge that was on its last legs has almost fully recovered because of the advice on this thread. We were at the point of calling it a day, and digging it all out, but now it’s flourishing and almost completely back to normal. Mrs D wanted me to thank you chaps. ds last year. Thanks for the advice above, will give that a try. 
pquinn said:
I gave the things a single strong dose of Bug Clear Ultra last year and they never came back, hardly a lot of effort involved. Only tricky bit is remembering to spray inside the bushes not just outside.
I think Bugclear Ultra2 is the one that specifically includes box caterpillar. I'm not a fan of broad insecticides but nothing is flowering in my garden quite yet so I'll try that stuff. You can get a concentrate for £15 which should last years.
motco said:
Well I've been dousing mine with the oil/detergent/water spray suggested by our New Mexico dweller, and the little sods seem to love it! I give in and will try proper pesticide and woe betide any pupa or lava that wriggles on my bushes.
Numerous people on here had said to use Xentari from Top Buxus. Why piss around with home made concoctions that, whilst cheap, clearly don't work! 
RichB said:
motco said:
Well I've been dousing mine with the oil/detergent/water spray suggested by our New Mexico dweller, and the little sods seem to love it! I give in and will try proper pesticide and woe betide any pupa or lava that wriggles on my bushes.
Numerous people on here had said to use Xentari from Top Buxus. Why piss around with home made concoctions that, whilst cheap, clearly don't work! motco said:
RichB said:
motco said:
Well I've been dousing mine with the oil/detergent/water spray suggested by our New Mexico dweller, and the little sods seem to love it! I give in and will try proper pesticide and woe betide any pupa or lava that wriggles on my bushes.
Numerous people on here had said to use Xentari from Top Buxus. Why piss around with home made concoctions that, whilst cheap, clearly don't work! RichB said:
motco said:
RichB said:
motco said:
Well I've been dousing mine with the oil/detergent/water spray suggested by our New Mexico dweller, and the little sods seem to love it! I give in and will try proper pesticide and woe betide any pupa or lava that wriggles on my bushes.
Numerous people on here had said to use Xentari from Top Buxus. Why piss around with home made concoctions that, whilst cheap, clearly don't work! RHS advice on Box Tree Caterpillar said:
More persistent contact insecticides include the synthetic pyrethroids lambda-cyhalothrin (e.g. Westland Resolva Bug Killer), deltamethrin (e.g. Provanto Ultimate Fruit & Vegetable Bug Killer, Provanto Sprayday Greenfly Killer) and cypermethrin (e.g. Py Bug Killer)
They disapprove of persistent pesticides but specifically dislike neo-nics which this not.motco said:
They disapprove of persistent pesticides but specifically dislike neo-nics which this not.
We too are members of the RHS. Xentari is a bacteria that gets into the box moth caterpillar and infects it. It is specific to that caterpillar and is not an all round bug killer. Good luck. RichB said:
motco said:
They disapprove of persistent pesticides but specifically dislike neo-nics which this not.
We too are members of the RHS. Xentari is a bacteria that gets into the box moth caterpillar and infects it. It is specific to that caterpillar and is not an all round bug killer. Good luck. My other ongoing war is with an invasion of glis glis in my loft...
RichB said:
No but the Romans used to eat them...
So do our local Red Kites. A glis glis is just within their swoop and grab ability, but a squirrel is not. Two red kites spent a couple of hours dismantling a road-kill squirrel that I removed from the road and put it on the lawn. A pair of crows waited patiently for the banqueters to be sated when Reynard appeared, trotted across the lawn and picked up the remains without breaking his stride. Two kites and two crows just stood and watched. My CCTV captured the whole event. motco said:
RichB said:
No but the Romans used to eat them...
So do our local Red Kites. A glis glis is just within their swoop and grab ability, but a squirrel is not. Two red kites spent a couple of hours dismantling a road-kill squirrel that I removed from the road and put it on the lawn. A pair of crows waited patiently for the banqueters to be sated when Reynard appeared, trotted across the lawn and picked up the remains without breaking his stride. Two kites and two crows just stood and watched. My CCTV captured the whole event. 
Sounds like 'Spring Watch' in your garden! RichB said:
motco said:
RichB said:
No but the Romans used to eat them...
So do our local Red Kites. A glis glis is just within their swoop and grab ability, but a squirrel is not. Two red kites spent a couple of hours dismantling a road-kill squirrel that I removed from the road and put it on the lawn. A pair of crows waited patiently for the banqueters to be sated when Reynard appeared, trotted across the lawn and picked up the remains without breaking his stride. Two kites and two crows just stood and watched. My CCTV captured the whole event. Sounds like 'Spring Watch' in your garden! 
Five maybe six weeks since the first XenTari spray and I guess a lot of new growth and we have a new significant infestation today.
I set up my compressor and the wife mixes the solution and we can cover all sides of the 25 x 0.6 x 0.5 metres that loops about our garden pretty quick. With the compressor you can really smell when you are in a big group of them and loads of dead bits come out
It appears to stop them immediately as I cannot see any now unless they get so scared of 20psi they drop off
I really hoped we would get a longer stint before the respray but my goodness you have to be watchful as a couple of days unnoticed and they wreak havoc
I set up my compressor and the wife mixes the solution and we can cover all sides of the 25 x 0.6 x 0.5 metres that loops about our garden pretty quick. With the compressor you can really smell when you are in a big group of them and loads of dead bits come out
It appears to stop them immediately as I cannot see any now unless they get so scared of 20psi they drop off
I really hoped we would get a longer stint before the respray but my goodness you have to be watchful as a couple of days unnoticed and they wreak havoc
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