My Box hedge is in a bad way. Apparently, I'm not the only one with this problem; box hedges are dying across western Europe. The attack comes in two waves. There's a moth whose caterpillar eats the leaves, and there's a fungus that attacks the leaves but not the roots. I sprayed with a biological weapon (bacillus thuringiensis) against the caterpillars, and I thought I'd done what was necessary, but no, the blight is coming for the second wave and this one I might not win.
I understand that there's a fungicide that can cure this, but it's hard to eradicate once established, and I think it can be said to be established in my hedge. Anita and I have spent the last couple of days cutting the hedge back and taking the cuttings to the dump. Fungicide is on order. But I'm not hopeful.
I wouldn't mind so much, but the Box plants were about 6 inches high when planted some 17 years ago, and they have reached the height required just about now.
2 comments:
Oh dear … not just us humans being blighted then?
Many years ago we planted two matching ash trees either side of our drive. Not exotic but once grown they framed the drive quite nicely. One died of ash dieback a few years back. Annoying isn't it!
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