Boxwood Blight - We Are Free & Clear!

Boxwood Blight is a very fast spreading disease caused by the fungus, Cylindrocladium, which affects members of the Buxaceae family including Boxwoods and Pachysandra. This disease spreads by sticky spores, which means they do not spread long distances by wind, but are spread most commonly by splashing water, plant debris, and sticking to any surface that might come in contact with. These spores may remain alive for up to 10 years. Infected crops will eventually die from this disease, so preventative practices are of the utmost importance.

We continue to work with the Illinois Department of Agriculture and our local inspector to stay apprised of the situation and mitigate our risk. After a thorough inspection of our nursery, the Illinois Department of Agriculture has certified our boxwood crops are disease free.

Symptoms of Boxwood Blight include:

• White puffs on the stems and undersides of the leaves
• Brownish spotting on leaves
• Dark lesions on stems
• Partial or total defoliation of plants
• No visible symptoms on the roots

Unfortunately, these symptoms are the same as common Boxwood diseases, which means Boxwood Blight cannot positively be identified except for laboratory testing. If you suspect your Boxwood may be infected, send a sample directly to a lab.

Our Best Management Practices

In order to be proactive, and due to the serious nature of this disease, Midwest Groundcovers has implemented best management practices, which include: 

• Regular inspection 
• Preventative fungicide applications 
• Tailgate trainings to educate staff at all levels in the company about the severity
• Stringent controls of inbound and outbound boxwood plants to our nurseries

What these stringent controls mean for you:

• Trucks carrying boxwood are limited to our sales pick-up yard. To help keep our boxwood crops disease free we are minimizing transportation into our nursery facilities. 
• All boxwood sales are final; once boxwood leaves the nursery, we are unable to accept returns.

We realize that these practices are somewhat inconvenient, but without them, it will be impossible for us to provide disease-free crops to you. We are confident that the best management practices we have implemented and our controlled propagation facility, will allow us to provide disease-free boxwood crops in the future. A copy of our inspection report is available upon request.