Box Tree Moths & Caterpillars - You Have Beaten Me! 🐛😡

Everyone, it's Jeanette here from The Enthusiastic Gardener and I am rather angry today and sad because I am admitting defeat, unfortunately. Defeat against the Box Tree Caterpillar and the Box Tree Moth. I am thrown in, well I was going to say thrown in the trowel, but this is not a trowel but they're all coming out. Unfortunately I have battled the Box Tree Moth and the Box Tree Caterpillar for long enough. I am admitting defeat but I am saying no more. Gardening should be fun and enjoyable, it should not be stressful and expensive and a worry and annoying, which this is what this area is doing to me everyone and I'm not having it anymore. I adore Box Trees, Buxus, Boxwoods, I love them, I really really do. But here in England, especially around London and the Home Counties, you can see from this picture here, which is taken from the RHS website, we are just riddled with these awful creatures. The Box Tree Moths look like this, they have white wings and they have brown tips and they lay their eggs all in our little boxwoods and the eggs turn into caterpillars and the caterpillars eat the plants, put all this webbing all over it, decimate it and everything and I have tried for four years to eradicate them and they are still back and it is costing me too much money. I put the traps up, I fill it with the pheromones twice a year. I also spray them liberally with the Zentari because the pheromone traps trap the male moth and then he can't go and find his female. That's the theory anyway but it doesn't seem to be happening. They've got wires to it. Then they lay their eggs in the boxwoods and the eggs turn into these awful looking little caterpillars and the caterpillars eat all your plants and the Zentari, what that does, and it's not nice spraying all these awful chemicals and I really really try to avoid it. The caterpillar ingests the Zentari, it will stop eating within one hour and it will die within one to two days. You can of course pick the caterpillars off by hand. I am far too squeamish to do things like that. I couldn't even touch it and that's a lot of work and I know some people have beautifully manicured topis and I feel for them so much. I really do. Mine are just, as you can see, just little balls but I loved them and I was hoping that they would all grow into one little low hedge. It was going to be beautifully manicured. You could see all the way to my garden illusion gate. It was all going to be very beautiful and I've tried for about four years and I've worked out what it's costing me to do this, which clearly isn't working anyway. The traps of which I needed two, one for the front, one for the back and they're £16.95 each, £33.90 but I'm not even going to count that because that's a one-off purchase. Refills for the traps £18.90 and you get two in a pack. They last 100 days so we call that three months, 90 days to be on the safe side and so that would last me six months. Then we have the spray zentari because you have to do this as well. That catches the male moth but that doesn't seem to have stopped anything in my garden so you need to liberally spray with the zentari. In each box you get five sachets of three grams each which covers 30 square meters. That is £14.95 and that will do three months so you need another one for another three months so that little lot comes to £48.80. That is for the back garden. Then we need the same for the front garden which comes to, you can see I've already done this, I'm not doing it in my head, £97.60 so that is £100 every year just on the treatment. You can see I'm looking over my glasses in disdain. £100 a year, if I want these boxwoods for another 10 years that is going to be £1,000. £1,000 plus all this all the time out here every two or three months spraying and goodness knows it's just not worth it. Unfortunately I am admitting defeat and the other thing to notice when I was looking on the RHS website is that they don't just have one cycle, they come in April, lay the eggs, there's the caterpillars, moths and off they go and then it starts again. The cycles are even overlapping so each stage is happening all the time so you know there's no stopping it and another thing I found out is that they overwinter, the caterpillars overwinter in your boxwoods so they can survive all kinds of weathers and it just never stops. Well it is stopping, it's stopping right here, right now. I will just mention if you do want to try these solutions and sprays and everything they are bee friendly which is why I've continued doing it but they are harmful to aquatics so if you've got a pond no no no bees are fine and also you shouldn't spray anywhere near open beautiful flowers apparently but anyway that's it I'm so sad I really really am um they're coming out let me show you the front garden which is even worse and these are my boxwoods in the front garden which you can see look also have been attacked we have exactly the same problem here all along the whole thing these were originally small little balls look at this end here completely decimated and there's no coming back from this you have a look down the sides it's completely completely chewed to pieces I've absolutely had enough of it everyone and they're all got to go I'm going to take them out and come along and join me in my sadness and this can go in the bin Richard I've done it they've all gone come and have a look tell me what you think yeah well they're gone so I guess you can plant them you can buy more plants yes and you can plant yes I need to think and I can think about over the winter time and autumn time think about what to do how about the other a line of things like that pots like that each side line of pots I'm not so keen on pots pots don't do so well you have to maintain them so much you have to hand water them always in the shade hookers well that hasn't has crossed my mind because hookers do like the shade low maintenance low maintenance beautiful colors yes I've given her an idea already well I had thought of that I thought I've got so many already people are going to get bored with my hook I'll have to do the enthusiastic hooker a girl and she's got the seat there that she always sits on I do always sit on it you just don't see me sitting right she always sits on that but it's got dust on it what does that tell you oh so annoying so annoying our husband's annoying I knew a lot of planting opportunities you have to look on the bright side of life you just have to and I will not have to worry about ordering these treatments and I feel for everyone who is experiencing these box tree moths and caterpillars especially if you're near me home counties and surrounding London areas but you should register on the RHS website they ask you to fill out the survey if you have these box tree moths and caterpillars so please do do that because they're monitoring them they came over originally in 2007 but it was until 2011 that they started to come into private gardens so it's been 10 years and it seems to be getting worse we also have box blight over here and if you watch gardeners world you will see Monty removed all his box trees and I know that Erin an inpatient gardener she has box blight troubles too so they're beautiful plants but they do cause concern and hard work unfortunately but I am going to look for alternatives there are lots of alternatives that look the same such as Japanese Holly the Ilex Crenata and many other things I may not even do the same style again I may do something different it's a very shady area it never gets light so I'll have that to consider as well anyway I'm going to do the front garden on another occasion because I've filled up my green bin and green bins get collected every Wednesday and I've filled it up now I've got rid of 20 because there was one more over the other side so 20 boxwoods it's very very sad but I am glad that I did it and if there's anything causing you trouble in your garden just get rid of it that's what I think it should be fun and you should be happy and you shouldn't be stressed and concerned so that's my advice anyway I hope you are having fun in your garden take care everyone I will do the front garden ones and I'll probably film it and show you at some point so thank you so much for watching take care and see you soon bye