Features, measures and prevention

Warm, humid weather promotes fungal infections

If it is warm and humid in summer, the wedding is the Fungal infections came. Once the Cylindrocladium buxicola has established itself, the gardener initially places brown, rapidly growing ones stains on the foliage of the boxwood. The underside, on the other hand, shows many tiny, white dots. These are the spores of the fungal pathogen. As the disease progresses, the leaves fall off, and the shoots die and remain as dried up, brown skeleton left.

You can do that

Since effective pesticides are not permitted in allotment gardens, you only have that Scissors: Cut out the infested areas generously and prune large box trees vigorously return. Do not wait too long with such a cut, because the disease progresses quickly. If the plants are still quite small, only clearing will help. Furthermore, it makes sense to remove the top layer of soil around the infested plant and to replace with healthy soil - the fungal spores overwinter in the soil, but also in the Plant material. You should therefore carefully sweep up the clippings and fallen leaves and dispose of them with household waste.

Effectively prevent the death of shoots

Because an infection with Cylindrocladium buxicola occurs during a rainy phase and the box tree leaves for it If you have to be exposed to strong moisture for at least several hours, you can do this with a few simple measures prevent:

• Pour Boxwood if necessary always from below, never from above!
• The leaves must not be wetted.
• Plant the wood in a location that is as sunny and airy as possible.
• Make sure there is sufficient planting distance, do not place a hedge too close together.
• Valuable solitaires can also be roofed over to protect them from moisture.
• Dust your boxwood with fine Algae lime.

The most important precautionary measure, however, is this: Cut your book never in the rain, because then the fungus has particularly easy cards due to the open cuts.

These pathogens also cause shoots to die off

In addition to Cylindrocladium buxicola, there are other pathogens that cause similar symptoms:

• Volutella buxi: causes boxwood cancer, particularly young leaves and shoots are affected
• Fusarium buxicola: boxwood wilt, often only affecting individual shoots

These are each fungal Diseases. A virus infection, on the other hand, is rare in boxwood. But there is also a dreaded animal pest, which also triggers shoot death and eats entire populations bald within a very short time. The talk is - how could it be otherwise - of the boxwood moth, a butterfly whose caterpillars have a great appetite for boxwood.