The Trouble with Box

The owners and gardening team at Sarsden Glebe, a beautiful private rectory garden and park laid out by Humphry Repton near Chipping Norton, have been fighting the devastating effects of box blight and both moth since 2017. They've had some extraordinarily good results too. I was pleased to spend the day with them to understand their approach to renovation, and to participate in the regime they follow to care for and improve their plants. As you can see in the photograph, we cut back affected box balls very hard to short framework of branches to encourage strong regrowth. This should be done in June or July so there is enough recovery time before the cooler/shorter days of autumn. A low box hedge can be treated similarly by cutting down to a height of about 15cm. All debris is cleared and burned. The team say that even plants defoliated by both moth caterpillar can be treated and saved by following this method. I saw examples treated like this from previous years - the regrowth has been very successful and the plants appear to be blight-free. But key to this is also the regime of watering and feeding. After giving the plants we had cut back a thorough soaking at the base, we used TopBuxus Grow - a pelleted slow-release feed - spread around the base of the plant which is then also heavily mulched. The TopBuxus Health-mix foliar feed is also used throughout the season mixed with TopBuxus XenTari to control the box moth. Applications are timed to coincide with the usual three generations of caterpillar in April, June/July, and September. The last is really important to stop any caterpillars over-wintering - something you can spot by the webbing of leaves to create a shelter. A further helpful measure is to increase air-flow particularly through the base of plants by removing low branches and ensuring there's a gap to the ground. I feel much more confident about following their lead in my work now - what a team, thanks guys!