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Help with box plant!
Allys
Posts: 3
Hi, we recently moved to a new house and have our first garden. We were so excited that the first week we just started cleaning up the front garden. Without knowledge (I know...) we cut the box plants (it was end of September) in a sunny day and the result is that they are probably dying.
I don't know if it is a fungus, cannot see any insect there, or if they are just dry dead. The top is turning yellow and there are no new leaves in the dry holes. I sadly now know that we should have waited until June and watched some video to know where to cut but here we are.
Please help! Is there anything that can save them?
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Posts
Box does turn yellower at this time of year too, so I'd also say hang fire and wait for spring to make a judgement.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you everyone, at least there's some hope, I thought they were evergreen so was a bit concerned about the yellow leaves
The holes are very large, I'm not sure if we should cover them, if it gets too cold they may freeze. Suggestions?
They are evergreen Allys, but the colour does go 'off' a bit over winter
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
HI Allys - welcome to the forum
I grow box and have some serious virus (box blight) issues with mine & have been attempting a rescue package this year.
First the bad news - you didn't pick the best time to cut hard into your plants - but you already know that !
Next the good news -
Suggest you do nothing else with it for now.
In the spring take a careful look and you will probably see lots of tiny leaf buds starting to appear on the stems - these will open over next spring / summer.
I think the plants would probably benefit from a good feed to help them recover but I wouldn't do this until the weather is becoming a bit more reliably mild (I do mine in April - depends on the season & where you live). Although box is very hardy you don't really want to prompt the plant into producing lots of young leaves while there is a risk they could be frosted.
I have used both a non-organic general fertiliser lightly forked into the soil and liquid seaweed in the past. I also give them a nice thick (3- 4") mulching of home made compost in March to suppress box blight fungal spores on / in the soil, help with feeding and help retain moisture.
When the plants start to grow again and risk of frost has passed you can trim and shape the bushes as you want to - but pick a period of dry weather and clear up the trimmings to reduce the risk of encouraging box blight.
If you notice any brown blotches (as opposed to a bit of yellowy / coppery discolouration) this may be a sign of box blight (take a look on the RHS website for symptoms). I would then spray with the fungicide now available to amateur gardeners which has proved very effective on my badly affected plants - but you may not want to do this if you are trying to garden organically.
Thanks a lot! I'll keep an eye for the brown virus and fingers crossed for next spring
Edit:
Sorry - in my previous post I talked about box blight & called it a virus.
Box blight is a fungal infection - hence the use of a fungicide to control it.