Help from the experts.

Oh no Spritz...don't say honey fungus! I would think you would have seen the 'black bootlaces' when you were digging it out, and sometimes there are little pale straw coloured toadstools around the base of the trunk as well. Isn't Phytophthora a blight, like potato blight? The poor conifer hadn't a chance!
The border looks really fantastic now though, and it's grown so fast! Surely that's a good sign? All you can do is as you say, watch and wait...

Not sure I should mark this as a "like"!! Bit of a kick in the middle that. I do hope things are okay..as you said Spritz, growing well and I would have thought its a good sign too. Great to know the ins and outs Libet. Lets hope none of us get it!

There was a detailed information board about Phytophthora,at the Eden prioject..it seems it is getting to be a big problem in this country now..Our local radio gardener ,spoke about it,a couple of weeks ago..and they are very concerned about nursery stocks.It is thought to be responsible,for the demise of many Busy Lizzies this year..a lot of queries about them on our Qestions section...

I have lost my blue solanum which is in the same family as Potatoes and therfore a potential victim. If blight is now affecting junipers this is a real worry. Do they suggest ways of dealing with other plants in the vicinity? At least you got yours out quickly which should help stem further outbreaks. I wonder if banning the age old method of burning unwanted garden refuse is not causing us more grief than the possible global warming it is designed to prevent. Is it safe to decant old compost from tomato growing on to beds of shrubs or into the compost heap?

Read with interest...

Just learnt something new, this site is so informative - but I hope I never have the problem.

It certainly wasn't Honey Fungus - we've had a lot of discussion on that over the years on GoY, and I'd learned what to look for which is exactly what Libet says.

However, the leaflet on Phytophthera suggests that I should have grassed the area over and left it for THREE years before I planted anything there!

Eeek! Too late, too late. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh dear,Spritz..all that hard work you put in,and the lovely planting ! I really hope they will be ok..we will all be keeping everything crossed for you..Do you have any thoughts on all the different makes of compost that are on the market now ? I don't really look at where they are sourced from,just what is in it..and everyone seems to be selling a lot of 'bargain' cheap stuff...just wondering if something has entered the chain ,along the way..even in the quality ones..

I did notice some compost has a sort of white look to it in places but at the moment things look ok but the bizzies don't like this cold & damp

I am so glad to hear its was not HG Spritz.

well i have learnt something new..thanks,your bank is looking lovely lets hope it keeps that way..:o)

I agree with Joan ... learn something new every day on here! ... :o)

That makes another thats learnt something new.

Not a nice thing to learn about, I know! The leaflets go into detail about the two fungal diseases. Honey Fungus is obviously easier to detect, but when you realise that 'Sudden Oak death Syndrome' is down to Phytophthora, it makes you think, doesn't it!

I'm careful to buy compost from a named source - I wouldn't buy the Council stuff. If you think that the Juniper went to the tip, and other dead shrubs etc must have been taken there too, how do we know that the spores have been killed off?

I've also heard about odd objects turning up in cheapo compost! Who'd like to find a belt in potting compost? Yes, really. :-((

Scotsgran, there are some suggestions as to dealing with other plants, including not feeding with nitrogen, not watering too much, sticking to tap water for watering, keeping the soil well-drained and replacing all the soil in the area down to below the root level.

There's also a long, long list of susceptible species. Scary! The only plant that appears to be 'very resistant' to it is our friend the Leylandii - hmmm...

so sorry to hear, Spritzhenry, how long had you had the juniper? it looks large.

I found a plastic dragonfly (minus wings and colour) the length of my little finger in either my compost or bark chips; not sure which, I was using both and then found it in the pot - I did wonder which of 'em was including "free gifts" and where it had been sourced.

sorry about the fungi barbara and shame you didnt get reply sooner, your bank looks lovely replanted though, so fingers crossed it stays that way :o)

Fran - it was here and a mature plant when we came, so it could have been anything up to 25 years old.

I don't suppose you'll want to buy that particular brand of compost again!

Thanks, Sandra - I do wonder what I'd have done if the RHS had replied earlier. I think I'd have dug out the soil where the roots actually were. It's too late now, of course.

wow, that's a venerable plent to be laid so low and so quickly. I'll have to check your pics to see it in its prime.

true, I'll be buying my compost else where in future! but mainly because I have to cab home, which adds another tenner to the cost, so they don't work out that "cheap".

Is there any way to clean or sterilise bare soil to get rid of any fungus before planting? even if that means having to leave the soil unplanted for a while, might be worth it to know the fungus has been totally eradicated - this time around, at leat. but then, some bacteria are necessary, so totally sterilising the ground wouldn't be much use.

I thinkthe council compost would normally be fine because they have huge areas covered in green waste which does mean it heats up but whether it would be hot enough to deal with this fungus is a difficult question. I can understand the need to be careful of adding nitrogen because it could encourage soft growth which could be susceptible to any diseases around but using tap water as opposed to water collected in a water butt seems a bit strange. What a shame leylandii is not susceptible. I do hope your new plants survive. I hope none of them are on that list.

You should see the list, Scotsgran! You'd be shocked, as I was. Yes, I'm afraid roses are on for a start. I daren't look and see if the others are, but I expect they will be. :-((

Are these lists available to gardeners or only to rhs members Sprtitz.

They came to me as a member, but I'll check and see if they're a) available, or b) copyright. Watch this space!

Thank you. I used to be a member but I felt I did not have access to most of what was on offer and of interest to me.

It says 'This leaflet is free to RHS members'. I'll just type the most frequently attacked plants - the list of 'occasionally attacked' plants fills an A4 page. (!)

Acer
Aesculus
Buxus
Calluna
Ceanothus
Chamaecyparis
Cistus
Clematis
Cornus
Daphne
Erica
Euphorbia
Fagus
Fremontodendron
Hebe
Heuchera
Ilex
Juniperus
Lavandula
Malus
Osmanthus
Prunus
Rhododendron
Ribes
Robinia
Rosa
Rosmarinus
Rubus
Sorbus
Taxus baccata (worst hit!)
Thuja
Viburnum
Wisteria

Isn't that scary! :-((

Oh dear,what a list..I only have seven of these,in my small garden..but it's enough..you must be very anxious,Spritz,along with lots of other members..especially with your open days to think about..and all businesses that specialise,and garden centres,etc.It's a bit like the diagnosis you get,if you have to have an operation..they are obliged to tell you the worst case scenario,of what COULD happen..so let's keep our fingers crossed,and hope it doesn't..not much else we can do,really,but wait and see..

Stop worrying, there are so many plants on there, in fact I have all but three of them, that if I worried about them I would be dead in a week. I shall enjoy them and hope I do not suffer from having any of them attacked by these horrible diseases. I will also hope and pray none of us end up with 3 years of having only lawn.
I wonder if this is the result of too many chemicals floating around our gardens to treat every imaginable symptom.
Since I planted up the area, where my juniper died, and it must have been 40+ years old, I have not seen any other symptoms and it is all looking very good. Fingers crossed yours will be fine too Spritz. Mine was never diagnosed as having the disease but it too died very suddenly and very quickly.

I agree - I shall just keep an eye on the area, and if the Phytophthora attacks again, I'll have to deal with it then.

Plant diseases are a bit like human diseases: once they were localised because people didn't travel much, so any outbreak was confined to a smaller area. Now we can get plants from all over the world (whether we want them or not! Japanese Knotweed, for eg).

Also, we used to be 100% organic because that was the only way; now there are chemicals and "e-numbers" in just about everything - there's no guarantee that even "100% organic" actually is, since something might have drifted on the wind from somewhere else.

Nature will regain her balance and these things will even out over time, but we're still in transition and there are going to be some species that are going to have a tough time till the balance is restored. Of course, in the case of Japanese Knotweed and such, nature will need all the help she can get.

That's all wise and true.

lol and easy for me to say as I have hardly any plants and hardly any garden to put 'em in! No doubt I'd be devastated if this had happened to me - well, to my plants, if it had happened to *me* I'd need serious medical attention.

You would indeed! Aren't we lucky it isn't a human condition.

I wasn't really devastated, more concerned that I'd have an enormous space which I hate. I can't leave any sized gaps in my garden - I have to fill them. Now this section is planted up, I've started to look seriously at the rest of the bank wondering if I should continue in the same style of planting. I like projects! :-))

There are a few plants in my garden I'd be very upset to lose, but they can be replaced, after all.

Oh Barbara what a bother ! I've copied the list ,I'm certain that I have all of those shrubs on it , I haven't done anything about mine yet apart from snipping out the bad patches to improve the look of them , it looks as though we will have to start digging to remove our junipers they are each at different ends of the garden but it dosn't appear to have affected any other plants/shrubs as yet ..
I love your new planting the colouring is very attractive I'm sure you will miss your Juniper but this new area will soon become established .. fingers crossed that it dosen't infect the roses I have a rose at each side of mine ...
I'm sorry that you are having problems with your back , don't you dare start on any other part of the bank until it's better , take it easy for a while ,sit back and admire your handywork . x

Thanks, Amy. I'm glad you like it. :-)

My back's fine now. We have to deal with the poorly Hebe before I start on the rest of the bank - but I will at some point now the idea's in my head.

The Hebe job means taking out plants that are above or near the roots, potting them up, removing the Hebe, planting the Amelanchier, then replacing the plants. It sounds easy when I type it, but I bet it won't be! OH will help with his pickaxe once I've sawed off the branches. I must remember to take photos!

I do think you'd be wise to take out your poorly Junipers - and if you can, replace at least some of the soil.

I saw aJuniper in a garden this week,that looked exactly like yours did,Spritz...so it could possibly be the same problem..

Oh dear. It could indeed. I know that some diseases are spreading fast - like Dutch Elm disease did, and now the poor Horse Chestnut trees, also Oaks - what next? :-(

If this is what's been doing for the busy lizzies perhaps we should not use the old compost on the garden? Mine had escaped until last week but two containers have now been affected, with one to go.

The question is what to do with the old compost. If we send it to landfill it may spread farther and quicker, if it goes on the green recycling is it going to spread further through that?

The disease affecting Busy Lizzies is different - it only affects them, not other plants. It's a mildew.

Here's the RHS advice about it and the used compost.

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=205

I thought the advice was pretty comprehensive.

might be wise to wait a while before extending the plantings along the bank, Spritzhenry. See if the new plantings are immune from whatver killed the juniper before providing it with a freeway to the other end of the bank! I don't know how long it would be to know that the new plants are safe, though - I'd imagine that different pests affect different plants - well, differently.

can compost be dried and burned? or baked at least? problem with an open fire is that bits might not be killed and the smoke carry it to start again somewhere else. but in a closed incinerator? or might baking it at high temperature leave it sterile?

of course i don't know how high a temperature it would need and equally of course it's not something we could all do in our back gradens anyway. but is there a company or council that could or would?

Thank you Spritz - as you say, very comprehensive and I wouldn't have thought to do any of that left to myself. I hope some of the many people who've asked about it this summer will read this!

I thought it was very helpful, Steragram. I hope other people will see it too - at least now I've found it, I can copy and paste the link for anyone who asks.

Sorry Fran - I've no idea! I wish I did know...and I won't be starting on the rest of the bank for ages!

I just know I want to carry the planting on at some point. :-)

Don't suppose you noticed any stripping of the inner branches Barbara, only this year I've had a serious problem here with mice! would you believe doing just that over a period of time, and had to remove several established conifers that were seriously damaged by them. No problem on pines, spruces, firs, etc, but major damage and sometimes death to lawsons, thuja, and junipers. ...just another possibility

No, nothing like that, Bluespruce. When we got it out, I think we'd have noticed.

Sorry to hear about the problems you've been having. That must be very frustrating for you! :-(( You definitely need cats around the place!

Thank you for the link I too have read it and am now even more convinced that old methods like double digging were not a bad idea.

I've added it to the blog on Busy Lizzies too - I know it's bad news, but I think everyone needs to know.

Good idea Spritz - thank you

:-( Awful though, isn't it!

It is. Mine went on the heap for burning this afternoon. ..sigh...

Mine are going tomorrow. <more sighs>.