Sunday, June 10, 2012

Dying Boxwoods

Back in 2009, I posted about my boxwoods and the continual dying off of branches.

This has proven to be one of my most popular posts. It receives page views all the time.

I'm guessing that boxwood death is a problem for many homeowners.

I am down to three boxwoods (there were five), and the branch die-off continues.



The problem, whatever it is, has moved steadily from boxwood to boxwood.

As best I can tell, the culprit is likely something called English Boxwood Decline. This is caused by drought, which then creates some kind of root fungus or root rot. It is not something very controllable, as it is weather-dependent. I try to water mine but apparently I still am not doing something right.

The branch death slowed for a few years and I had hoped that somehow the remaining boxwoods would be spared, but now I do not think that is the case.

In any event, there is not a lot of information about boxwood problems on the Internet. A few sites discuss the problem but generally refer back to the site I have linked to above.

These boxwoods mean a great deal because they came from slips my husband's grandmother cut from her boxwoods.

I have come to terms with the fact that eventually the remaining boxwoods will likely have die. I hope it will take a long time, though.

2 comments:

  1. I'd cut some slips from the healthy ones and plant them elsewhere on the property... that way you still have something left of the bushes that mean so much to you.

    :-))

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's weird the way they're dying. Could there be some kind of bugs on it?

    ReplyDelete

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