Thanks to all of you for your updates, and for for future ones too. There are lots of ambiguous lists out there for tolerant plants, because of the variety of growing conditions, management, etc. Water is a major issue under black walnut trees, they are very thirsty! The competition is far to much for a neglected sapling or shrubling. Keep those Messervae hollies well watered their first years as suggested, and during any long dry spell. Water slow and deep, so that the roots really spread out. Ill take some cuttings (or layer rather) of my blue princess and China girl and try them out under driplinE. I um, planted mine well outside it....lol A mature walnut creates a perfect dappled shade for so many great plants. Ibe come to really appreciate them. Sweetshrub, spicebush, hemlock, dogwoods, Hosta, bulbs of all flavors, ferns, yarrow, monarda, japanese maple, beauty berry, etc etc. oh carolina silverbell. I’m forgetting some, all planted adjacent to or within drip line. Oh. Witch hazel, itea, ..... I’m also glad to have some acreage without walnuts. But I treasure the one that takes center stage on our front yard. There is more organic matter/humus under that tree than anywhere on my property. PS I’m ruthless in my quest to secure the walnuts before the squirrels. We have loads of hickories, oaks, and others. But they bury them in my jugLomé (what is with this Hojzz spell check.??.) ok thr squirrels bury them and by the time you see the leaves peeking out, there’s an impressive lateral taproot that seems to never end. I dug one from a sprout on the edge of my yard this summer. It was 12’ Long and up to an inch in diameter. With branching. It is tragically hard to kill those little fu... guys. Another sprouted right in the center of a 20 yo American filbert. How does one surgically remove THAT? I can’t just pull it like any other weed, it would scoff it ripping it’s top off a dozen times over 2 Years. Cutting it 12” below soil? Nooo prob. I believe they would keep up this zombie walnut program until my death — ostensibly a few decades yet -- at which time it would have an extensive underground root system, and could grow a 60’ tall tree within two seasons of me being buried. Impressive really.

Good morning Katrina! Cotton root rot is a fungal infection of the soil for which there is no well-known chemical treatment. It is very persistent in the soil and pretty much wiped out the cotton crop once grown in many southern states. Millions of dollars have been spent studying it, but no real solution has been found. One researcher at Texas A&M has had some success in recent years with a combination of encapsulated (slow-release) nitrogen fertilizer in combination with certain commercial fungicides and the addition of various minerals he has found to be deficient in soil infected with cotton root rot. One reason cotton root rot is such a problem is that it is able to lie dormant in the soil for a long time, perhaps many decades. The best solutions are to try to acidify your soil, since it thrives in soils with a pH of 7.0 to 8.5. I have had some success in controlling it, but not eliminating it, by working large amounts of compost, peatmoss, greensand and other amendments into the soil. Using 1 lb. of ammonium sulfate per 100 square feet of soil twice annually helps, but there is no guarantee. Improving drainage also helps, but does not eliminate the fungas. I don't know if hot compost would help. I tried it one year with fresh cow manure, and all I got was every weed known to mankind. :) One of the main treatments for cotton root rot in areas where field crops are grown is to grow various monocots, like sorghum and corn, and till them into the soil once they are mature. This seems to help slow down, but not completely eliminate, the fungal disease. It is not a practical solution for the average landscape, though. Growing up in Texas where the main crop was once cotton, and my daddy's family were once cotton farmers, I knew all about cotton root rot long before I experienced it firsthand myself. When I lived in Fort Worth, I listened to Neil Sperry's radio gardening show from the time he began it in the late 1970s to the time I moved here. Countless times I heard him diagnose certain types of sudden plant death as cotton root rot, and most of the time the gardeners involved simply didn't want to accept his diagnosis--I assume because none of us wants to have a disease in our gardens for which there is no simple cure! When I began planting here and had cotton root rot problems, I was just sick about it. Over the years I have worked hard to improve the soil in the area where I have had the problems, but the cotton root rot still rears its ugly head every now and then. With regards to composted cotton burs, I have never heard of any problems with them being a carrier of cotton root rot. As far as I understand it, the cotton root rot attacks and destroys the roots of affected plants but does not travel up into the plant system. Infected plants die because they can no longer receive nutrition via their now-decimated roots. I think it unlikely that you could ever find any trace of cotton root rot in composted cotton burrs. Cotton is still successfully grown in the High Plains of Texas, and one of the by-products of that plant would be the composted cotton burs. I believe no one in Texas would process and sell those burs if there was any chance whatsoever that cotton root rot could be in them. One of the leading researchers in the area of Cotton Root Rot is Texas A&M University. In reading their data, I have never seen any concern expressed about cotton root rot being transferred via the burs. Cotton root rot seems to be more of a problem in parts of Texas than in Oklahoma, but that doesn't help you if you are in the part of Oklahoma where is has reared its ugly head. Hope this info helps. Dawn

Hi Moonchinka I could only post 1 picture so it was the one with the white fluff I opted for. I don't think it's mealy bug because the appearance and distribution of the white fluff is very regular in shape and place. I've come across them on other things before. I was wondering about a fungus infection? Here's another image that should show the browning of the needles. I have been concerned that the whole tree looks less green than before. As I said, I haven't actively been watering the tree since it's been a wet winter. I've even tilted the tree's bowl to help with drainage. I don't have a green house to over-winter and I don't believe stagnant indoors air circulation is good for the plant. So what else might I be able to do please if water is the problem? Thanks for your opinion.

Donald....isn't it neat to still be learning something at your age? It's easy to confuse one of the several Japanese holly species with boxwood. But the leaf arrangement is never ambiguous! Those knotched leaf tips are another identifying feature. Pest infestations can sweep through plants that are in close proximity to each other, particularly if the plants are all of the same kind. It's one of the biggest flaws of monoculture. I would very much like to see you take some affected clippings to your local NC Cooperative Extension office. Click on the green link to find your county information. Finding someone knowledgeable for an in-person inspection would be invaluable. It's very important, I believe, to have an accurate identification of the pest before using any kind of pesticide. Spider mites, in particular, multiply rapidly if inappropriately applied pesticides kill all manner of predatory species. I keep mentioning spider mites for a couple of reasons. One is because your pictures illustrate exactly what their feeding looks like, as best as I can tell from those images....especially the newest ones. The second reason is because boxwood can be susceptible to infestations of several kinds of pests, including the mites. But nothing else looks quite like what you've shown us. I know of no disease that presents itself like this, nor does nematode damage...a pest quite common to boxwood in some locations. I hope that you will stay in touch with us as you search for and find a resolution.