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Will this recover with feed?

CopperdogCopperdog Posts: 617
in Problem solving
I have two of these evergreens in pots but one has substantially yellowed. Can it be saved with seaweed foliar feed or is it doomed? Many thanks 
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  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Looks like Box blight, so no, feeding will not help.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited March 2023
    May be the photo deceiving me but are they box? 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    There's a Dutch variety which has slightly larger foliage @GardenerSuze, so perhaps it's that one? 
    Box can also suffer in dry, cold winds, or in hot sun, where they get brown. That wet/freeze cycle at the start of winter may have affected them too, although all the box round here looks fine, so that seems unlikely, especially as we had another spell earlier this month of the same weather. 
    Either way - as @punkdoc says, feeding won't help. 

    Moving them to a sheltered spot [if they're exposed] for a while might help if it's just weather damage. If it's blight, then I don't think there's much you can do at this stage. Many people have struggled with box for years due to blight and/or the moth.  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Short answer, no.  The specifiic area is doomed.  If you cut it out daylight will stimulate regrowth, and eventually fill the gap. 

    Like people with a health issue, feeding is rarely a life giver.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    There is an aboriginal proverb:

    If you don't eat, you don't shit
    If you don't shit, you die.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Fairygirl I did know there were different ones those leaves are big.

    Saw Euonymous Green Pillar clipped into a conical shape 3ft at GC looked really good and not as expensive as box of a similar size.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    @GardenerSuze -I think that Euonymous is a good alternative for anyone wanting a Bonsai type of plant, especially a cone. Does it clip into other shapes though, or is it naturally more vertical as per it's name? The shrubby honeysuckles [Lonicera nitida etc] are a good alternative, but the disadvantage is that they grow more rapidly so need more frequent trimming. 
    The Dutch variety gets sold up here - I've seen it in several outlets. I don't know anything about it though, and I don't know if it's more resistant etc. 
    We don't seem to get blight round here, although I think there have been cases further east. The caterpillar/moth isn't present. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited March 2023
    @Fairygirl I will try to get a photo if I visit again soon. There were cones and spheres and they did look good. Interestingly it had one of those hopeless labels saying 'a replacement for box and a photo of a lady???? Couldn't see any instructions what so ever on care or even a label to say it was Euonymous. It was either E Green Pillar or E Elsie Hughes I cannot tell the difference.
    I would buy this over L Nitida less clipping to do. I am sure they will be in many of the GC's this spring.They looked so good I would happily replace box with them
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • CopperdogCopperdog Posts: 617
    I found the label and it says ilex crenata? 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Not box blight then :). The brown leaves won't turn green again and I expect they'll drop off eventually. If the affected branches/twigs are still alive it should put out new leaves so I wouldn't cut them off just yet, do the scratch test first. Gently scrape off a bit of bark with your nail. If there's green underneath and it looks moist, there's hope. If dry, brown and brittle the branch/twig is dead at that point, so try again closer to the main trunk. Then you can cut off only the dead parts.
    If or when it starts to put on healthy new growth, that's the time to feed.
    It's probably worth trying to track down the cause though. If it's cold/wind exposure maybe next winter you could put it in a more sheltered spot. If it's been dry at the roots (which can happen in the winter if rain isn't getting into the pot and you don't water it) you can avoid that happening again. If it's due to being up against a wall or other plant (lack of light on the affected side) you canputit in a different spot or turn the pot regularly.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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