The Boxwood Blight Insight Group (BBIG) has announced a webinar series that teaches attendees about growing and protecting boxwood. Registration for all webinars is free.
Knowing and growing boxwood - June 2, 1:00 p.m. Eastern
Grown for centuries, boxwood is not always well understood. Gardeners know of its reputation, but find it difficult to describe good growing practices. Professionals search for accurate and detailed information to make appropriate horticultural decisions. This introductory presentation hits the high points of box history, nomenclature, landscape use, physiology, pest and diseases, legend and lore, and in particular, horticulture. The webinar is hosted by Lynn Batdorf, retired curator of the National Boxwood Collection at the U.S. National Arboretum.
Boxwood breeding and selection for blight resistance - August 25, 11:00 a.m. Eastern
Boxwood are popular woody landscape shrubs grown for their diverse forms and broad-leaved evergreen foliage, with an estimated $141 million economic impact in the U.S. alone. Boxwood plants grown in temperate zones worldwide are threatened by a blight disease caused by the ascomycete fungi Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae. While the disease can be mitigated somewhat through cultural practices and fungicides, the most sustainable long-term solution is the development of disease-resistant boxwood cultivars. This session delves into interspecific breeding and selection of boxwood towards resistance to Calonectria pseudonaviculata. This webinar is hosted by Katrijn Van Laere, senior researcher at Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food-Plant Sciences Unit (ILVO).
Invasion, impact and management of box tree moth in Europe - December 2, 11:00 a.m. Eastern
The box tree moth, Cydalima perspectalis, is a pest of boxwood originating from East Asia. Since 2007, it has invaded Europe and the Caucasus, causing severe damage to planted and wild Buxus species, in particular the European boxwood Buxus sempervirens. In 2018, it was found in Toronto. In Europe, boxwood is quickly disappearing from private gardens, parks and forests, causing serious concern for the ecological survival of the tree species. In this presentation, the speaker will share the European perspective on the insect - its impact, identification, biology and management. This webinar is hosted by Marc Kenis, Head Risk Analysis and Invasion Ecology at the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI).
Progress in Boxwood Blight Management in the United Kingdom and New Zealand: 1990s to 2021 - March 10, 2022, 3:00 p.m. Eastern
In this seminar, Matthew will trace the progress of box blight and its management in the UK since it was first found in the mid-1990s. Early advice to gardeners was to remove all Buxus from gardens where the disease had been recorded. Since then, considerable progress has been made in keeping gardens free from box blight, but also to avoid the eradication of the host from gardens where it does appear. While it is still a difficult disease, there are increasing options for its management. The situation in the UK will be compared with that in New Zealand, where box blight has also been present since the 1990s. This webinar is hosted by Matthew Cromey, Senior Plant Pathologist at the Royal Horticultural Society (UK).
For more information:
Boxwood Blight Insight Group
www.boxwoodhealth.org