Box Blight - Thoughts? Alternatives?

You're on a slope John, I wonder if the additional drainage helps - keeps the moisture down, which is going to decrease your risk I reckon? Good point raised earlier about shade / dense planting - that's where Monty Don has his I think.

I think the dwarf variety is more prone to Box Blight? "Dwarf Box grows about 2-3cms per year and, after 30 or years, it can reach about 1 metre high.
Dwarf Box is good for hedges under 50cms high; we recommend using the more vigorous Common Box for edging and topiary projects over 50cms tall." (Ashridge Trees)

Yeah, well I suspect that buying cloud-trained anything is going to be pretty dear!


Ilex crenata 8-12ins20-30 cm £2.86 (50+ qty) "once established can grow at least 8ins (20cm) a year"
http://www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk/acatalog/product_10208.html

On price? Box or Ilex crenata is going to need to be planted 5-per metre (or 4 if you buy large plants), so for 25' you would need about 40 plants, which will be £75 - £125. Price is relative, of course, but I think for a nice border hedge its not a lot of money to spend (unless you are a cheapskate like me and only want to do it, at all, if you can take cuttings for nought!)

The discussion on Box Blight on Gardeners World is from 23:00 - 26:00 minutes into this episode:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01myltn/Gardeners_World_2012_2013_Episode_24/
Suggested alternatives were: Ilex crenata, Taxus baccata (common Yew), Berberis thunbergii (green or purple), Euonymus fortunei (variegated from green/white to green/yellow),

 

My problem is...i'd like a beautiful dwarf hedge YESTERDAY So any plant would need to be atleast 1 1/2 foot to start with kerching.........so unless i rob a bank it's not going to happen is itthat's why i thought of Lonicera....bit cheaper but i think if it's well trimmed and looked after it would look nice

Spruce...it would only get full sun for about 4/5 hours tops so i think i'd best opt for the 'green' one eh....

 

4 or 5 hours sound really good what time of the day ??

Spruce

 

Ah ... you're right about Instant Hedge "kerching"!!. Not-fully-shaped and Not-all-that-tall is about £100 a metre ... and Fully-shaped and Decent-height is £300 a metre.

Good cash crop to grow in an out-of-the-way part of the garden for your retirement!

I have quite a lot of plants growing on "round the back" for future projects to save money on the plants, and to heopfully have some "extra height" when they are planted; but that needs both a vague notion of what the future projects might be, and the space "round the back" (and time/energy/etc) for the growing-on.

 

Early morning till lunch and that's only say 6ft of the 'hedge'...after that it's not total shade but i still not sure there would be enough light