Episode 267: Growing Box: Moths, Blight and Solutions!

My guest this week is Belgian nurseryman Karel Goossens. Karel runs an internationally renowned nursery supplying box plants and is the Chariman of the Belgian arm of the European Boxwood & Topiary Society. With decades of experience growing box and an irreverent approach to tackling the problems that go along with it, when he was recommended to me, I thought he was my ideal sort of guest! He does recommend intensive cultivation methods which include spraying chemical fungicides and insecticides, so this epsiode is not for everyone. However, I do acknowledge that many historic gardens are built around a backbone of box and that many listeners are professional gardeners who deal with box and its attendant blights, so this epsiode is a practical look at what you can do. 

Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Box Tree Moth

Links

Kwekerij Goossens on Instagram

European Boxwood & Topiary Society

Karel's website for tripod ladders

Our Plant Stories with Sally Flatman

Other episodes if you liked this one:

Lawns with David Hedges-Gower

Hiring a Garden Designer