Box hedging and topiary has become extremely popular. You can clip it tightly for years and years and it retains a neat, perfect formality that can be made to look modern or classic.
But after two wet summers, box blight,Cylindrocladium buxicola, seems to have spread aggressively.
I used to advise that if you think your hedge is infected, it was best to send a sample to be checked before you start doing radical removals (RHS members can do this). Then, if confirmed, any infected foliage or badly infected plants should be removed.
But speaking to Yvonne Cannon, head gardener at Holker Hall, I have revised my ideas. She has brought several badly infected gardens back to fine fettle.
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