The whole south side of my house is lined by very large and well
established forsythia bushes. I noticed last year that they have
developed some sort of fungus. It had already spread quite profusely
before I ever even noticed it, but I cut what I thought was all of it
off. Apparently this was not the case because now its even worse. It
seems as though I will just have to cut the bushes down to the ground
to get rid of this stuff because there is no way I can trim each and
every one of the infected branches - there are just too many. Does
anyone know anything about this? I thought I'd read somewhere that it
will go away on its own after a few years, is this true? I also read
that it can spread to wisteria, which I have growing nearby. ? Is it
necessary to cut the bushes down? If so, to what height and when
should I do this? I live in TN in zone 7.

Thanks so much!!

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 06:17:27 -0800, arproffitt wrote:

The whole south side of my house is lined by very large and well
established forsythia bushes. I noticed last year that they have
developed some sort of fungus. It had already spread quite profusely
before I ever even noticed it, but I cut what I thought was all of it off.
Apparently this was not the case because now its even worse. It seems as
though I will just have to cut the bushes down to the ground to get rid of
this stuff because there is no way I can trim each and every one of the
infected branches - there are just too many. Does anyone know anything
about this? I thought I'd read somewhere that it will go away on its own
after a few years, is this true? I also read that it can spread to
wisteria, which I have growing nearby. ? Is it necessary to cut the
bushes down? If so, to what height and when should I do this? I live in
TN in zone 7.

Thanks so much!!


Good day Arproffitt.
Before one could give you recommendations one way or the other, we (I)
would need a better description of the fungus. Is the fungus attached to
the leaves, stems or the trunk. Is the fungus white, black, grey or some
other color? How does the fungus affest the shrub? Does it kill off leaves
or whole stems?

As you may of noticed, more information is needed. There are some basic
rules to follow.

1 Keep your area clean. This means keep all the fallen debris picked up
and disposed of properly. All infected material should be removed and
destroyed. DO NOT COMPOST!! Bag it and trash it or burn it. Composting it
will most likely spread the fungus.

2 Clean your cutting tools. Just as you wouldn't want your doctor to use
dirty tools on you, don't use dirty tools on your trees and shrubs. Many
times one will spread diseases with their pruners as may of been the case
with you and your forysthia. Clean the tools with a 50/50 mix of water and
alcohol. If the fungus is bad, then clean your cutting tools more often.
After everycut may be needed.

3 Air flow. Many funguses grow due to an enviroment that has little air
flow and the shrubs stay moist through out the day. More air flow helps to
dry out the foliage.

Good luck.

Hi Timothy. Thanks for taking time to respond. I didn't include a
description of the fungus I guess because I thought only one type of
fungus was likely to grow on a forsythia. I didn't realize there could
be many different types of fungus. If you email me
) I could reply with a photo. Otherwise, the
fungus looks pretty much like brown/grey "spikey" balls. These grow on
the stems, not the trunk or leaves. It did not affect flowering last
year as the bushes looked just fine from a relative distance, but it
does appear to have killed some of the branches, though not all. These
bushes are very large and dense, so perhaps it was lacking proper
airflow as you mentioned. Do you think I need to cut these down to a
few inches or is there something I could treat the fungus with? I
realize you don't know the exact problem here, but in general with
things like this - what would one do?

Thanks again.
Amber

Are you sure it's a fungus and not scale?



wrote in message
oups.com...
The whole south side of my house is lined by very large and well
established forsythia bushes. I noticed last year that they have
developed some sort of fungus. It had already spread quite profusely
before I ever even noticed it, but I cut what I thought was all of it
off. Apparently this was not the case because now its even worse. It
seems as though I will just have to cut the bushes down to the ground
to get rid of this stuff because there is no way I can trim each and
every one of the infected branches - there are just too many. Does
anyone know anything about this? I thought I'd read somewhere that it
will go away on its own after a few years, is this true? I also read
that it can spread to wisteria, which I have growing nearby. ? Is it
necessary to cut the bushes down? If so, to what height and when
should I do this? I live in TN in zone 7.

Thanks so much!!

"Lauren" wrote in message
...
Are you sure it's a fungus and not scale?

No matter which it is, wouldn't a stem taken to the local nursey get
the proper fungiside/insecticide to treat the problem?

Tom J




wrote in message
oups.com...
The whole south side of my house is lined by very large and well
established forsythia bushes. I noticed last year that they have
developed some sort of fungus. It had already spread quite
profusely
before I ever even noticed it, but I cut what I thought was all of
it
off. Apparently this was not the case because now its even worse.
It
seems as though I will just have to cut the bushes down to the
ground
to get rid of this stuff because there is no way I can trim each
and
every one of the infected branches - there are just too many. Does
anyone know anything about this? I thought I'd read somewhere that
it
will go away on its own after a few years, is this true? I also
read
that it can spread to wisteria, which I have growing nearby. ? Is
it
necessary to cut the bushes down? If so, to what height and when
should I do this? I live in TN in zone 7.

Thanks so much!!

wrote in message
oups.com
Hi Timothy. Thanks for taking time to respond. I didn't
include a
description of the fungus I guess because I thought only one
type of
fungus was likely to grow on a forsythia. I didn't realize
there
could be many different types of fungus. If you email me
) I could reply with a photo.
Otherwise, the
fungus looks pretty much like brown/grey "spikey" balls. These
grow on the stems, not the trunk or leaves. It did not affect
flowering last year as the bushes looked just fine from a
relative
distance, but it does appear to have killed some of the
branches,
though not all. These bushes are very large and dense, so
perhaps
it was lacking proper airflow as you mentioned. Do you think I
need to cut these down to a few inches or is there something I
could treat the fungus with? I realize you don't know the
exact
problem here, but in general with things like this - what would
one
do?

Thanks again.
Amber

Post a picture to alt.binaries.pictures.gardens.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

"Tom J" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Lauren" wrote in message
...
Are you sure it's a fungus and not scale?

No matter which it is, wouldn't a stem taken to the local nursey get the
proper fungiside/insecticide to treat the problem?

Tom J

Not necessarily. The local nursery could be a Lowe's or Wal*Mart.
Remember, the OP is in Tennessee.

"Lauren" wrote in message
...

"Tom J" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Lauren" wrote in message
...
Are you sure it's a fungus and not scale?

No matter which it is, wouldn't a stem taken to the local nursey
get the proper fungiside/insecticide to treat the problem?

Tom J

Not necessarily. The local nursery could be a Lowe's or Wal*Mart.
Remember, the OP is in Tennessee.

There is a guy in the nursery at the Lowe's near me that is very
knowledgeable, although I know that's not always the case. There is a
private nursery across the highway from them that doesn't have anyone
that knows squat.

Tom J

Tom J "Lauren" wrote in message
...

"Tom J" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Lauren" wrote in message
...
Are you sure it's a fungus and not scale?

No matter which it is, wouldn't a stem taken to the local nursey
get the proper fungiside/insecticide to treat the problem?

Tom J

Not necessarily. The local nursery could be a Lowe's or Wal*Mart.
Remember, the OP is in Tennessee.

There is a guy in the nursery at the Lowe's near me that is very
knowledgeable, although I know that's not always the case. There is a
private nursery across the highway from them that doesn't have anyone
that knows squat.

Tom J


amber i dont know if this is going to help any but could it be that your forsythia has crown gall growing on the branch areas and that its not a fungus at all.
maybe take a peek here and see if this is what it is
http://www.homestore.com/HomeGarden/...?poe=homestore
good luck, sockiescat.