Wealden Times | WT260 | January 2024 | Good Living Supplement inside

Garden
ZenTari followed by TOPBUXUS
Health-Mix sorted out the caterpillars
this year and stopped them in their
tracks. Wise though to use pheromone
traps to catch the male moths in the
spring and to nip any infestation
in the bud. The added bonus of
the traps is that they are specific to
male box tree moths and will not
attract or kill other moth species.
There are a number of honey
fungus species native to the UK of
which Armillaria gallica and Armeria
mellea are the two usually found. Of
course honey fungus is in most of our
precious woodlands but doesn’t always
cause too many problems in this sort
of setting. The reason being that other
fungi present compete with the honey
fungus and restricts its progress. In a
cultivated garden setting we are not
so lucky as the honey fungus has less
competition from other fungus and
can run unabated through susceptible
trees and shrubs. There is no ‘cure’
for it, either natural or chemical, but
there are steps you can take to stop or
weaken any possibility of further havoc.
I think that once mature trees are
affected, there is a problem in that
as it is spread from root to root, so
it’s difficult to recognise before it is
too late. Red or purple rhizomorphs
maturing into what look a bit like
black bootlaces are to be found in
the root system of the tree and white
mycelium can be found under the
bark. Apparently the rhizomorphs can
extend 30 metres from an infected
plant, which is a worrying thought!
There is a suggestion that you can
sink a plastic barrier into the soil to
a depth of eighteen inches with an
inch or two above the soil if you think
that you might have a chance to catch
the fungus in time. Again, tricky if
the trees that are affected are mature
and thus their roots really extensive.
I think that at that stage, you might
have to live with it after removing as
istockphoto.com/Terrence Pickles (Exeter Trees) / Alastair James / Jenny On The Moon
to reduce the trees to shadows of their
former selves. So three have now been
felled. I’m trying to convince myself
that, rather like after the 1987 storm,
there’ll now be opportunities to make
a few changes in the garden. Luckily,
not all garden shrubs and trees will
succumb to the fungus. There are
some that don’t seem to be affected.
One of these is box (Buxus) and thank
goodness for that. Box has its own
problems with both box blight and
box tree moth caterpillars though.
Repeated applications of TOPBUXUS
Above: Azara Serrata is exuberant and deliciously scented
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