{"id":9941,"date":"2018-11-02T11:55:23","date_gmt":"2018-11-02T15:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.surroundslandscaping.com\/?p=5796"},"modified":"2024-06-12T18:00:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T18:00:40","slug":"rare-garden-plant-diseases-boxwood-blight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.surroundslandscaping.com\/rare-garden-plant-diseases-boxwood-blight\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare Garden Plant Diseases: Boxwood Blight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/p>\n

best landscape design firms and landscape management companies typically associate with top tier growers to maintain consistent quality in the plant materials they specify for your garden. Although growers cultivate new varieties of disease-resistant, high-quality garden plants each year, extreme weather conditions can cause problems with even the hardiest of nursery stock.<\/p>\n

Following an unusually wet summer and autumn, the relentless weeks on end of damp and cloudy weather (65 days to be exact) created conditions perfect for setting off an outbreak of boxwood blight.<\/p>\n

Boxwood: What It Is and Why It\u2019s So Popular<\/h2>\n
\"boxwood
\u00a9Morgan Howarth Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boxwood is probably the most ubiquitous garden ornamental plant found in Northern Virginia landscapes. Surrounds Landscape Architect Howard Cohen calls it a \u201ctimeless classic.\u201d It is prized by Cohen and other landscaping professionals for its versatility: Boxwood, because it naturally grows in a variety of silhouettes and sizes, can be put to service as a hedge, foundation planting, or as an edging plant.
\nRobert Saunders of Saunders Brothers Nursery goes further, calling it \u201cthe aristocrat\u201d of landscaping plants<\/a>. A significant portion of Saunders Brothers annual nursery production is devoted to boxwood varieties because of its utility, longevity, and deer resistance.<\/p>\n

Over the past sixty years, the grower has invested considerable resources to support research into the characteristic strengths and vulnerabilities of boxwood. This dedication makes Saunders the go-to source for information about the developing boxwood blight situation in Virginia.<\/p>\n

What Causes Boxwood Blight?<\/h3>\n
\"
A grouping of “Grace Hendrick Phillips” boxwoods. PHOTO: courtesy Saunders Bros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Landscape designers try to select garden plants with the best track record regarding pest and disease resistance. In truth, almost all garden plants come with an attendant set of diseases and insect pests that prey upon them. Often, the damage wreaked by these invaders is merely unsightly.<\/p>\n

However, some plants diseases can be deadly if they aren\u2019t properly contained and are allowed to spread throughout a landscape. One such rare and fatal plant disease is boxwood blight. This fungal infection springs to life and spreads quickly during prolonged periods of the day and night temperatures between 60-70 degrees combined with abundant rainfall and high humidity.<\/p>\n

Although boxwoods are characteristically resistant to most diseases, boxwood blight is their Kryptonite. Boxwood blight attacks all boxwood cultivars but is lethal when contracted by English boxwood.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Here are some key points about the disease adapted from Saunders Brothers 5th Edition Boxwood Guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"boxwood
Foliage infected with boxwood blight. PHOTO: courtesy Saunders Bros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n