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English Boxwood Decline: Identifying the Disease and Choosing Resistant Replacements

English Boxwood Decline in Central NJ

Your symptoms—half of adjacent plants dead, other halves healthy, spreading slowly—are classic English boxwood decline, a complex disease with no cure.

Action

Remove and destroy affected plants (do not compost).
Replace with American boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) or resistant cultivars (e.g., 'Green Velvet', 'Green Mountain').
See Virginia Tech fact sheet for details and photos.

Do not replant English boxwood in the same spot.

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