We're spraying again for box moth, the second time this year. Usually we get two infestations a year, the second one in summer, and it has punctually appeared. After DH's getting stuck with the odious task of spraying the last few times, this time he and I have been dividing the labor. I spray one tankful in the morning and he, one in the evening. This morning I had to spray the downhill side of the line of box below the barn. DH has sprayed the uphill side the previous evening, but the slope below is so steep that he couldn't keep his footing, while I had done it before. So out I went, long pants, long sleeves, mask, glasses--but they kept slipping off my sweaty nose so weren't much use, and sixteen liters of mixture on my back. I've been having trouble with my shoulder and upper arm for some time, and wasn't sure I could carry the sprayer, but succeeded. I worked my way down the line, sweating, propping myself against gravity, fighting my way through branches and trees, sometimes with the lever jammed above my head in the exact position I couldn't reach it, the spray hose catching on the tank, working at times with one thigh and knee braced on the ground and the other foot jammed below it since I couldn't keep on my feet. It was hot and humid, and by the time I was done I felt quite sick.

I spray for box moth because, if I didn't, we would lose all our 80 or 90 or more box plants, some of them large plants, some special varieties, all of them structurally important in the garden. Box moth kills. It's not native and has no natural enemies, which is why it's so devastating; while the box is native, and I'm not willing to sacrifice it to this ravenous invader. And I love box. We've been fighting the moth, mostly successfully, for about six years now. But I (and DH) loathe spraying. I've never sprayed for any other pest or any other reason, and it amazes me that some gardeners spray when it's not critically important. Lord knows I hope Italy's entomological researchers come up with some other form of prevention; they must be working on it, given the importance of box in this country's classic gardens.

Another reason for defending the box is because there's no ready substitute for it. However, today it occurred to me that in the kind of terrain where I was working this morning, in shade, on a slope with light soil, organic matter over rocks, myrtle might possibly work. It's not commonly grown here, being considered too tender, but I've had a plant in a sheltered area outdoors that went undamaged through the freeze in February 2018, the coldest weather I've seen since we came to Italy, cold enough to freeze back my Lady Banks roses, which had never happened before. Or, also in these conditions, Osmanthus heterophyllum, a handsome evergreen shrub, which has done well in our garden in similar conditions. For dense soil in sun, HD suggested Phyllirea latifolia. It's handsome, but very slow-growing, at least for me.

I will be so glad when the spraying is over.