Boxwood Blight is a fungal disease that attacks the leaves of the Boxwood and leaves the entire shrub defoliated. Ultimately death is inevitable.
Below is an excerpt from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. It is important to know that Boxwood is in trouble if this makes its way into the Twin Cities. Please read the status of where it currently is:
Boxwood Blight in Minnesota Boxwood blight, Calonectria pseudonaviculata, has not been found in Minnesota but it has been found in neighboring Wisconsin. An alert from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protecon (DATCP) regarding the discovery of the disease at a retail site in Madison, Wisconsin prompted follow-up at sites in Minnesota that received boxwood from the same Ohio source. Samples were taken to the University of Minnesota Plant Disease clinic and were found to be infected with Volutella blight which is very common in Minnesota and not a significant foliar disease. Boxwood blight is very destructive and there is no practical control other than destroying infected plants and using clean plant practices. Thus far no reports of boxwood blight have been made. Nursery Inspection staff will continue to look into possible introductions and inspect
boxwood plants in retail sites.
Boxwood is used in and around the Twin Cities metro in many landscape applications. Typically it is used to create single rows of tidy looking evergreen borders. This is often used in traditional landscaping that is trying to create a formal look. When landscapes are designed using boxwood there needs to be many of these plants planted very close together. Additionally, they are very spendy so if this disease hits it will surely eliminate mass groups due to their proximity. My next blog will be on plants to use in replacement of the boxwood. Please stay tuned.