Unwelcome garden visitors ...

The Dorset in-laws propagated some box plants for us some 25 years ago from cuttings on their bushes on the family plot. 

They were about the size of a small football when they came to our garden & I have tended them ever since. They have moved thrice with us & went in to the ground at our home some 8 years ago. 

It is very therapeutic to clip them gently in to their large round shapes several times over summer & to enjoy their structural shapes over winter when the snow rests on them like large Christmas puddings. 

I was sitting on the patio reading today when movement caught my eye. On closer inspection I saw it was the dreaded box hedge caterpillar, several of them on the box closest to me. 

These vile creatures can decimate a healthy plant in no time as they munch their way through the  bush &  their lifecycle continues with eggs being laid & another huge clutch of them appearing to continue on the bush. 

I immediately made up a solution of white vinegar & dishwasher soap in a spray bottle & sprayed it all over the bushes where the leaves were looking depleted. I spied caterpillars on all the bushes  & the far one has extensive damage to the one side. 

I thought that my mixture of soap & vinegar might delay them while I researched some treatments. 

Another resident in our community had reported box caterpillars recently & our local garden nursery said they had a spray for it. 

We duly went down & bought 2 large spray bottles of it as it will need more than one treatment to break the lifecycle. 

Can the 25 year old box balls be saved? I don't know because this is going to be a battle of the wills to stop them. It will need consistent treatments & they might be back again. 

Has anyone got any advice in dealing with this? Thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 🪏🪴🏡🐛🐛🐛