Box Blight

Hi, I have planted up two box parterre and a bed of box balls. I followed all guides and did not scrimp on planting e.g grit compost bone meal.  After looking healthy for 3months they have suddenly taken a turn for the worst.  I suspect blight after reading up. I have spent approx £400  surely I haven't wasted this money!! Please, any advice would be appreciated.

For some reason everyone who has problems with box seems to think it's blight...it could be of course, but there are also other things that may be responsible.

This is an excellent link that I think you may find useful; http://www.rhs.org.uk/Science/Plant-diseases/Box-problems

Hi, I'm hoping it is not blight. Have contacted my supplier(garden centre) their own look same. He suggested weather to blame and to feed and spray with rose clear ultra. Will give it a go. Thanks for site, very helpful.

We also have problems with our box with what looks like die back but on closer inspection although the leaves have gone brown and fallen off on parts of the plant the stems still appear to be green where this has happened. We have three box pyramids and two box balls and it has only happened on the box balls on the top of the plants which get most of the weather eg "the rain". I have read an article which says  that fairly newly planted box if not having had the time to settle in properly can suffer from this type of damage in extreme weather conditions, wet, dry. It's been wet to say the least so finger crossed it is this and as an ever optimistic gardener it's fingers crossed that next year they may recover. Hope this gives you a little bit of hope.

I don't know if you saw last nights GW but Monty Don was showing his box which also has box blight.  It was all brown in the middle of the plants but the outside looked ok.  He said to cut out the brown and they would grow back.  You could maybe watch the programme on BBCi player just to check but I'm sure that is what he said. 

Hi, Thanks for the response. Willowplanter, I am a little more hopeful as after spraying & clearing out dead matter the die back has stopped; as you mentioned mine were newly planted.  Lavender Lady, the programme was useful but had unfortunately fed before I watched it!!.  With lots of TLC I hope they will recover

Yes box blight here too.

If I have dug out all my new infected boxes and want to grow more at what depth do i have to go to replace the topsoil as this will end up very expensive,will one spit be enough?

Digging out a diseased plant and replanting with the same doesn't sound that good an idea.

An update on my box problems of last year. At the moment they are all looking really healthy, hopefully they were just stressed due to planting & the wet weather. Obviously I am keen to keep them looking good-I intend to spray with clear rose but should I do this before or after I trim them. Any advice would be appreciated.