Can my boxwoods be saved?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

I am not sure what is causing my Boxwoods to turn yellow and the leaves to curl up. I think its winter damage or boxwood blight.

They were lush green in the early summer and it turned this way around June/July.

I live in Dallas and the boxwoods were exposed to the snow storm we had but they should be hardy enough to survive.

Any way to save them or are they dead?

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

2 years ago

That is NOT winter cold damage! Certainly not if "they were lush green in the early summer and it turned this way around June/July". Winter cold damage would have shown up much earlier than that....within a few days to a couple of weeks after the cold event.

It does look a lot like boxwood blight. But would need a diagnosis from the plant pathologist at your county extension service to confirm. Although not as common as it may be elsewhere, boxwood blight has been found in Texas. There is also the possibility of a related fungal organism referred to as 'boxwood dieback', which has an appearance very similar to the OP's photos and is prevalent in the southeast. Again a proper diagnosis would be required to confirm.

Like the blight, there is no known treatment or cure and the plants should be removed and destroyed.

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Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
the damage from the freeze remains.. damaged leaves are not going to green again ... and the next leaf flush will be next spring ...

look close.. and see if you can see the buds for next years ...

the brown leaves will probably fall off over winter .. or eventually ...

next spring.. properly prune out anything that didnt put out a spring flush as being dead .. no green ='s dead ...

all that said.. if they were outside my front door.. and i had to get pissed off every time i used the door.. i would probably replace them next spring ... as i wouldnt be happy about a many year renovation of them ... or dig them out.. and plant them out back and see what happens.. but perfect your front landscape ... in other words.. you guys have until spring to get your act together.. or your outta here ... [and if they were irritating me enough right now .. i might do it right now .. life to short to be pissed off by your plants ... lol ...]

ken

btw .... snow rarely does this.. i thought you guys had a freeze .. and that WILL do this ...
Eli Lee
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Thank you for providing insight on this. We did have a freeze and I was hoping it was something else since my 7 other boxwoods are still lush green. Just these 3 random ones seems to have been effected.

I did scratch in the branches and they are still green so I am think they will recover. Should I remove the brown leaves or let it fall on their own? Some of the leaves are bleach green, I am guessing these are no good either?

I've been putting up with it since June so I may wait till Spring. But you are right, they are beginning to annoy the hell out of me. But I don't want to put a gap in hedge I am trying to grow and is the only reason I am trying to get them to recover.
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unleess you give us your name and password.. we arent getting past the sign in page.. and i dont recommend such WAG.. ants take advantage of already dead wood.. they rarely... kill things.. IF they are ants ... and if you have all this dying.. why are you replanting the same thing??? one of the big problems.. of a vast monoculture.. like a long line of boxwood .. is that once you have a problem.. its going to work its way thru the whole ... any chance.. since they are sounding overly mature.. that these used to be in full sun .. and now they are struggling.. as the deciduous trees have cast them in shade??? and even worse.. are the trees maples???? have the ever been rejuvenated??? perhaps i missed it in your flurry of posts.. but are you new to this garden... ken
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It's dead. I can see a couple of clues as to why. The "I watered often" might have been a problem. Did you test the soil to see if it needed water? In general, even evergreens don't need to be watered often in winter, and wet, cold soil leads to root rot. The other problem is cold combined with it being a potted plant. Because a pot is more exposed than a plant in the ground, the soil in a pot freeze more solidly than nearby soil, and will do far more freeze-thaw and this can damage roots. It's generally suggested that potted plants be hardy to 2 zones colder than where they are in order to survive the winter, and the boxwood is already near the edge of its tolerance to be planted in the ground in your area. If you want boxwoods, they will do best in the ground in your area, or at the very least in a pot that gets moved to a sheltered spot such as against the foundation in a shady area where the pot is surrounded by bagged leaves or in an unheated garage that stays a bit warmer than outdoors.
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On the plus side that's probably not box blight, box blight would be a summer issue and it sounds like yours are coming out of a late planting and the strong possibility of winter damage. It might be the dwarf cultivar 'suffruticosa' which really dislikes late planting and often goes golden and dead on either random branches or the whole thing. I would just leave it until May and it will either flush from the green branches or not... On the negative side the dead areas will be dead down into the center of the bush and when you eventually cut them out, even if the rest lives, it will be 'gappy' for a few years as it fills in. Ask me how I know lol. To leave on a plus note, box is super easy from cuttings. This summer you can clip a few branches off the ones you have, stick them in the ground and they'll likely root if partially shaded and watered every now and then. I have more box hedges lining my garden than I should, and they're all from an afternoon or two in the shed with clippers and a beer. Don't know what I'll replace them with once the blight hits my area.
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Jurassic Park
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I agree with gardengal, I don't think this is winter damage. My dwarf English boxwoods have been through subarctic cold and raging blizzards, they never looked like this. I would rip them out and start again. You don't have to wait till Spring to plant, btw.

But I have a couple of questions.

1.) When were the plants planted?

2.) Were they being irrigated before they were established?

Thank goodness I never had to deal with bw blight. Gardengal, any prevention from the blights and what environmental/cultural conditions facilitate it?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years ago
No prevention and no treatment. It is highly contagious and easily transmitted by pruning tools or even contact with infected plants. And drifting fungal spores are always a concern :-) No environmental or cultural conditions seem to encourage or deter this pathogen. There ARE boxwood cultivars that are resistant.......but not immune.
zekeafroid (Z7 - South Jersey)
2 years ago
It looks like they are planted near a downspout, so I would guess that it's root rot. I have some boxwoods that get a little bit of that discoloration in sections and they are the ones that are planted in areas with not the best drainage. If you decide to replant boxwoods there, you might try to divert the downspout away from them.
Eli Lee
Original Author
2 years ago
@zekeafroid (Z7 - South Jersey) The picture is a bit deceiving. The downspout is actually a good 4 feet from the boxwood and never had this problems before.

@Jurassic Park These boxwoods are at least 4 years old. I pruned them heavily after the winter freeze we had here, hoping that it will grow back. took it down about 10 inches from the top but it hasn't grown much since spring. I did transplant some of them in the spring but I don't think that is the issue because only 1 of the 4 boxwoods I transplanted is like this.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) Thanks for the help! I will remove them. My neighbor told me to try 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 3 parts water. Is this worth trying?

Can my boxwoods be saved?

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Eli Lee
Original Author

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Can my boxwoods be saved?

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Eli LeeOriginal Author

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