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The Box Blight Problem

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Box Blight, or Calonectria pseudonaviculata (syn. Cylindrocladium buxicola), is a fungal boxwood disease. It is spread by white, sticky spores through vectors such as plant to plant, tools and equipment, birds and animals, and even shoes by walking through an infected site.

 

Once a plant is actively infected, leaves turn brown and fall off within days to weeks leaving bare patches, and black streaks appear on the woody stems causing dieback. 

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The disease was first recognized in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and later spread to continental Europe and New Zealand. While the fungus ravaged gardens worldwide, the US enjoyed a short period free from the devastation wrought by Box Blight, but it was not to last.

 

The fungus was first detected in the United States in 2011 and unfortunately changed the boxwood game in North America forever.

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There is currently no cure for Box Blight, but best practices such as clean tools and shoes and not allowing debris from other locations onto a non-infected site can help prevent the spread of spores.

 

We adhere to strict guidelines and protocols to restrict access to plants and potential vectors for spore transmission. In order to protect our greenhouses and production fields, we do not provide tours or visitation for fear of accidental infection by foot traffic, and we never allow foreign boxwood plants, samples, or material of any kind onto the farm. We propagate exclusively from existing stock plants onsite.

 

Box Blight changed many factors and considerations when producing or landscaping with boxwood, but it is not necessary to give up on the beloved garden staple. Selection of resistant cultivars is highly recommended for any site whether Box Blight is known to exist in the area or not.

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