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My Box knott garden is truning yellow
We have bought a house that has a lovely box knott garden. During the months since we moved in some of the box trees have started to turn yellow and now many of them are completely yellow. As yet the leaves are not dropping off.
Picture of the hedges We were told that it was maybe because the soil was too damp and indeed the box's are planted in soil which has a very tight weedproof membrane and then the blue slate on top. We tried cutting the membrane back about a foot fron the edge so the box were not totally surrounded by membrane but this doesnt seem to have helped. Interestingly many of the plants are flourishing and odd ones in the middle of yellow ones are green. We have whole sections that are still green and much taller and stronger than the yellow ones. Does anyone know what else we should try. We have bought a house that has a lovely box knott garden. During the months since we moved in some of the box trees have started to turn yellow and now many of them are completely yellow. As yet the leaves are not dropping off. Picture of the hedges We were told that it was maybe because the soil was too damp and indeed the box's are planted in soil which has a very tight weedproof membrane and then the blue slate on top. We tried cutting the membrane back about a foot fron the edge so the box were not totally surrounded by membrane but this doesnt seem to have helped. Interestingly many of the plants are flourishing and odd ones in the middle of yellow ones are green. You cant see from this picture but we have whole sections that are still green and much taller and stronger than the yellow ones. Does anyone know what else we should try. |
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My Box knott garden is truning yellow
The message
from stuartforrest contains these words: We have bought a house that has a lovely box knott garden. During the months since we moved in some of the box trees have started to turn yellow and now many of them are completely yellow. As yet the leaves are not dropping off. Picture of the hedges This isn't a binary newsgroup, so any images are removed from post on servers. We were told that it was maybe because the soil was too damp and indeed the box's are planted in soil which has a very tight weedproof membrane and then the blue slate on top. We tried cutting the membrane back about a foot fron the edge so the box were not totally surrounded by membrane but this doesnt seem to have helped. Earthworms need oxygen just like all other creatures. Soil's probably gone sour. Interestingly many of the plants are flourishing and odd ones in the middle of yellow ones are green. We have whole sections that are still green and much taller and stronger than the yellow ones. Ah! That sounds rather like vine weevil attack. Gargle for biological control, or someone will be along here soon to tell you where to get the remedy. Does anyone know what else we should try. Sequestered iron, perhaps. Murphy do one called, IIRC, 'Sequestrene', which also contains (again IIRC) magnesium and manganese. Manganese deficience (often met with in Eastern England) is a contender. -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
Sorry here is a link to the pictures
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/stuartforrest/BoxHedges# I dont think they have been fine. These are new trees. The garden was replanted last summer I believe and the membrane laid together with the purple slate in the middle. We always have a flooding event here, its the lake district!! I did hear on the radio about box blight but they said you would have black spots on the leaves which we dont have. I have not seen any vine weevils either. Perhaps we should try removing the membrane fully and also the Iron thing. |
My Box knott garden is truning yellow
In message , stuartforrest
wrote Sorry here is a link to the pictures http://tinyurl.com/5uw9h6 I dont think they have been fine. These are new trees. The garden was replanted last summer I believe and the membrane laid together with the purple slate in the middle. We always have a flooding event here, its the lake district!! I did hear on the radio about box blight but they said you would have black spots on the leaves which we dont have. I have not seen any vine weevils either. Perhaps we should try removing the membrane fully and also the Iron thing. Possible the clue is in your first post: "During the months since we moved in" The garden looks like something from one of the daytime TV makeover shows where you spend £500 on the garden and an estate agent comes in and values the house at £25K more. The garden only has to last until the contracts are signed :( The previous owner probably used some chemical method for removing the jungle that was there before. -- Alan news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com |
My Box knott garden is truning yellow
The message
from stuartforrest contains these words: I did hear on the radio about box blight but they said you would have black spots on the leaves which we dont have. I have not seen any vine weevils either. You rarely see them. The adults are small, and a matt dark buff colour, and the grubs eat the roots. You could carefully dig out one of the worst plants and see if there are any little white grubs amongst the roots. Perhaps we should try removing the membrane fully and also the Iron thing. Can't hurt, so long as you follow the instructions on the packet. -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
My Box knott garden is truning yellow
In article ,
says... In message , stuartforrest wrote Sorry here is a link to the pictures http://tinyurl.com/5uw9h6 I dont think they have been fine. These are new trees. The garden was replanted last summer I believe and the membrane laid together with the purple slate in the middle. We always have a flooding event here, its the lake district!! I did hear on the radio about box blight but they said you would have black spots on the leaves which we dont have. I have not seen any vine weevils either. Perhaps we should try removing the membrane fully and also the Iron thing. Possible the clue is in your first post: "During the months since we moved in" The garden looks like something from one of the daytime TV makeover shows where you spend £500 on the garden and an estate agent comes in and values the house at £25K more. The garden only has to last until the contracts are signed :( The previous owner probably used some chemical method for removing the jungle that was there before. I am not sure I would have chosen box hedging for the lake district in the first place, that said the membrane is not likely to be the cause of the problem (although it does make improving the soil more difficult) The only wild box I know of in the uk grows in the south of england on chalklands so good drainage. Your problem is not knowing what was there before, some plants may be planted over something they don't like or as has been suggested are suffering from residual weedkiller (that should wash through with time) Could even have been some old diseased trees with roots still down there. Should any trees die I would take the opportunity to dig down and see what was under them. It sounds like something wrong at the roots Could be so many things. Try the sequestral your soil is quite likely acidic and thats all it may be and its the cheapest least disruptive solution! -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
My Box knott garden is truning yellow
In article , Rusty_Hinge
writes Does anyone know what else we should try. Sequestered iron, perhaps. Murphy do one called, IIRC, 'Sequestrene', which also contains (again IIRC) magnesium and manganese. Manganese deficience (often met with in Eastern England) is a contender. Rusty I have to agree with an earlier answer which is that it does sound suspiciously like box blight. Perhaps if the OP googled for pictures to compare , that might help. If it is box blight I am not sure there's anything they can do apart from grub it all up and burn the material. Not sure if blight remains in the soil or is insect carried? Over the past three years many people have lost hedges of box to this. I don't think box i particularly averse to an alkaline soil if it was then it would all be yellow. -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
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I totally agree about the makeover comment. The garden was relaid to sell the house although we had been looking at the house since last November when the hedge was yound and green and bought the house in August where they were still fine. In September we started to notice some of the turning yellow.
We could certainly have foxes as we have dear, owls etc regularly. This is a very countryfied location. We have another box hedge down the lawn which is about 100 metres long and is very healthy and growing. It is about 50 feet from this knott garden so I know they can exist just fine around here. They certainly did clear the previous garden and replant it so it is not beyond possible that they used some weedkiller but it didnt have amy effect for over a year as I know the plants suvived since last November so that one sounds a bit less likely I think. |
Ok here are some new photos where you can see the plants mostly green on the 1st of September and then some close ups of the leaves now
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/stuartforrest/BoxHedges# |
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