Comments on: Were you a Derby Day loser?

By: Evelyn

Evelyn — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:24:31 +0000

I have symptoms with two box cone shape trees they are about 8-10 years old,two foot tall, there leaves started to go yellow/brown in the centre of the bush then fall off i first thought it was over watering or lack of water as they are in there own walled garden, i then noticed lots of baby snails in the box thought it may be, they were the cause, as time has gone on the trees are no better starting to look thin loosing lots of leaves outside is still green,after reading Richards symptoms Sep 2009 they are much the same as mine, do you think my box has blight????? .Evelyn

By: Edward

Edward — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:13:17 +0000

Hi Greg,

Box likes chalk, so that’s not it. Can you give us more details? Did the damage happen over the harsh winter?

By: Greg Cumming

Greg Cumming — Sat, 28 May 2011 10:24:50 +0000

We have some of the symptoms of blight but not all. The outside of the hedges look poor as well. These hedges are of the small box variety and so are only about 30cm high and have been there for about 5 years. They are in very chalky soil. Could this be a problem? Should we be feeding them with some kind of acidic solution?

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Greg

By: Richard Hazard

Richard Hazard — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:30:01 +0000

Thanks for your reply. I have started by spraying the box with Roseclear 3 and the copper fungicide in 2 weeks. I’ll certainly experiment with clipping our box hedges during the colder months and try not to leave a flat surface tho’ this is the traditional shape of the hedge that is required. Up here we have had a very wet July and August even by our standards so the conditions for the spread of fungal infections have been perfect, I hope the plants have the ability to grow out of the problem with teatment because the effected areas are on a set of steps used for wedding photos, centre stage so to say, so I’ll see how things work out.
Thankyou for your help
Richard Hazard.

By: julian

julian — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:27:06 +0000

Without seeing a sample this is tough, but our guess would be box blight. Please send us a sample if you want. One of the symptoms of box blight is a dark brown/black streaking that tends to run vertically up and down the stems.

Can’t do much more than repeat what I said above:

1. Clip your box hedge plants so that the tops are NOT flat. Make them curved or shaped to prevent rainwater and dew resting in the foliage and creating an environment that encourages fungal infections.
2. Clip them in WINTER. At Highgrove box hedging is clipped at Christmas…..
3. Spray your box hedging ASAP. To begin use copper fungicide and then apply Scotts Roseclear3 2-3 weeks later. Repeat the alternation while you have a problem. When the problem is gone reduce this to 2-3 applications a season.
4. Box can fight blight off. There is a lot of evidence supporting this, but it you will lose a lot of growth first. If you have blight your 8 year old hedge is going to look a bit threadbare for a while – you may have to brace yourseld and take it out if it is really strategic…..

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:54:04 +0000

We have bought some buxus sempervirens from you before, so I am hoping that you may be able to help with a problem that I have in my exsisting box hedges. These were planted some 8 years ago and this year the tops some of our box hedging has suddenly and rapidly died off, the dying off spreading along the top surface of the hedge, moving down thro the plant but leaving the outside edges still alive and green. The leaves go a light brown and die, no sign of spots or mildew on the leaves. At first I thought that the problem was as a result of some liquid being poured onto the plants but the speed with which it seems to be spreading is rather alarming. I have tried local experts but no answers so far.

Have you any ideas ? I have heard about box blight, could it be this ? Is there a solution to blight ? I understand that you are not really in the market of plant disease and treatment but I can’t think of anyone else to ask. Any ideas?
Thankyou for any help you can give,
Richard Hazard ( groundsman – Inn on the Lake)