Metro Hort hosts Boxwood Diva Andrea Filippone
New York’s professional horticulturists meet in the “off
season” at the Central Park Armory, nestled onto the rim of the Park, just
nosing the children’s attractions that hold court outside, behind the imposing,
rather Gothic-looking building, somewhat like a movie set for Alice in
Wonderland.
Indoors at the Armory, at the winter meetings, Metrohort
members look forward to gardening camaraderie, networking and learning about
our passion: plants and landscapes.
Recently, all roads led to F2 Environmental Design’s Andrea Filippone, the horticulture
world’s leading expert on boxwoods, whose talk “Inside and Outside the Box” explored
the world of boxwoods.
What Alice Waters is to homegrown food, Andrea Filippone is
to box—that staple of virtually every designed garden.
Filippone demonstrated her confident knowledge of all things
box, provided a cautionary “heads up” on the rolling thunder of virus,
pathogens and pruning that is increasingly afflicting these ubiquitous
work-horses of the garden. She was
common-sense, country doctor in dispensing plant RX advice, and provided a
hand-out that is a gold mine of ready information about box, listing: Cultivar,
Hardiness, Exposure, Size, Best Features, Other Feature (such as Form and
color), Pruning and Substitutes.
This was a Very informative lecture from start to finish.
Filippone quickly earned the audience’s interest and
respect.
She was billed as a landscape designer who “brings together
the finest elements of design with ecologically sound scientific practice… She
grows boxwood using organic methods. In the past ten years, she has started a
boxwood nursery of more than 50 cultivars and now spends most of her time
defining structure and space in the outdoor environment. She uses no toxic chemical
pesticides or synthetic high nitrogen fertilizers in dealing with pest and
disease issues such as cylindrodladium pseodonaviculatum, aka Boxwood Blight. She
is a Watson Fellow.”
I think she could be the queen of boxwoods. Her oeuvre is an inspiring, over-the-top
palette of all kinds of boxwoods that extend waayy beyond the usual English and
Winter Gem.
Just in time, too.
The MetroHort professionals who attended the lecture were
transfixed as Filiippon, informed us about the virulent fungus, boxwood blight,
now ravishing the staple of virtually every garden: the boxwood border or
defining wall of many a “garden room.”
As an aside -- and not mentioned at the lecture is a very
interesting piece of garden history as it relates to boxwoods: in conducting the interviews for my soon to
be published book, “The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook” that explores
the nexus of culinary and garden art – how master chefs are inspired by their
homegrown farmers and fishermen – I learned that the owner/steward (13th
generation to do so) of Shelter Island’s Sylvester Manor, Bennett Konesni family
brought boxwood to these shores. Here is the excerpt from the book: “farmer and executive director Bennett
Konesni’s ancestors owned the entire Island – which for centuries was virtually
dedicated to farming and that early on, Bennett’s family not only brought many
heirloom vegetables, especially tomatoes and potatoes to America, he claims the
family also introduced the now ubiquitous boxwood to the American shores, for
which landscapers and gardeners from Long Island to Charleston to San Francisco
pay homage to the family! Then as now, the secret of the family’s
longstanding garden success is the soil.” “
To
pre-order my book "The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook"
at B&N, Amazon:
or
Just like Sylvester Manor’s farmers, Filippone too stressed
the importance of planting in good soil.
If boxwood is planted in clay soil, the box is under stress and
can turn orange in color.
Discoloration is due to lack of nutrients. She advises to do
a soil sample -- both a textural and chemical test.
Also a problem for boxwood is common pests.
English boxwood is very susceptible to fungus, in particular
the defoliating leaf minor, which can cause a blistering, at the end of leaf
effect, peeling the leaf apart.
In images on the screen (she also brought along healthy plant
samples), she pointed out the larvae feeding inside the leaves. “They lay their
eggs in spring, stay through the seasons and then emerge out of the back of
leaf” she said to much “nervous” laughter as the hort pros wistfully recognized
this look.
How to deal with this and the fungus that causes the cupping
effect:
* Don’t plant with too much density
or too tightly planted –
English boxwood need air circulation
* No wet feet.
* Plant
other box cultivars. “Don’t plant only English
boxwoods!”
* Use organic solutions – spray
with insecticidal soap
She recommends that this year – due to extraordinary warm
weather because of climate change – to check earlier than normal in April to
see if flies are present, swarming the box – in order to confirm leaf minor. If so, spray so they can’t lay more eggs and
then cut the branch off and burn it.
Filippone also humorously – but emphatically - pointed out
the importance of curbing dogs! “The heat
of the urine turns the box brown even after just one time. It can ruin the box
plant,” she claimed.
Three or four diseases hit boxwoods don’t get but she
explained English boxwood phytophthora (plant damaging water molds) and
suggests examining roots – if black, replace the box plant.
Macrophoma is a fungus that makes leaves drop and look black
on the inside of foliage due to dense planting, too much rain or high humidity.
Solution:
* Prune as much as possible (The boxwood queen is funny, too. Maintenance?
“I prune when I get to it,” she says.
*
Watch invest in drainage and irrigation
*
Plant different varieties
In general, she also admonished gardeners not to brush snow
off boxwoods (not that we had any to worry about this year!)
If you think you’re helping the box by brushing off the snow
– you are not. The problem won’t manifest itself or be seen until summer. You can break the internal plumbing. She
explained historical gardens in particular, have this experience.
Brushing or removing the snow can break the stem – and the
break allows a door for the fungus to set up house, creating a canker. (What do
fungi know of decorating?!)
Solution:
To remedy the problem once it has occurred, and after all
threat of a snowstorm, cut past the canker.
She says the plant will eventually grow back.
Let the snow melt – the plant will slowly upright itself and
come back, according to Filippone. Note:
during a discussion after the Wave Hill lecture last night with the fabulous
& dreamy Thomas L. Woltz, Nelson Byrd Woltz – a post coming soon about his
work! – there was talk that may have understated the case for brushing snow off
the boxwoods. All the hort pros agreed
that if the snow is too wet and
heavy, it will break the stems.
Consensus seemed to be to allow nature to orchestrate her snow dance for
a dusting or light snow…
With regard to boxwood blight, Filippone advised: “Don’t
panic.” Rather she suggested employing
all the solutions noted above to prevent from the blight from spreading. Further, the blight won’t affect other plants. Whew!
However, the black spot and defoliation can wreak havoc on
the box within a week.
The blight is
vascular – and has already devastated
plants rapidly in Australia and the UK.
It was discovered in October of 2011 in Oregon, Connecticut, North
Carolina, and Virginia.
No one is sure of its origins.
Experts believe it’s traveling with or through water – even
if the rain causes leaves to touch its neighboring box it will help spread the
fungus. It’s a sticky substance that can cling to clippers and clothes, so she
recommends sanitizing.
Also:
*Fungicides are unsuccessful
*Don’t fertilize boxwoods
*Drip irrigation is a solution,
especially when used in the nurseries where plants are packed especially tight
Filippone went on to amplify the great variety of boxwood – this
was the biggest take away – to learn the astonishing variety of available
boxwood to gardeners. There is a color
and shape and sculpture to add variety and excitement to garden designs. And think winter wardrobe too:
She and her team collected boxwood in Macedonia, partnering with
Longwood Gardens. Their goal was to
recreate the Edgar Anderson hort exploration in 1934. Filippone’s team brought 33 cuttings for
cultivation Macedonia is a rich area for a variety of box, she explained,
thanks to lots of temperate variance and micro climates there.
She showed tall ones and forests of boxwood and weeping
ones!
She will monitor her boxwood cultivar brood for six to seven
years. Her goal is to see what the
varieties can do in terms of color, year-round interest, and if they acclimate
best for windy or cold sites. Stay tuned
for market updates!
She has over 50 cultivars at her nursery in the Garden
State. (www.ajfdesign.com or www.f2environmentaldesign.com)
She uses lots of ‘Justin Brouwers’ buxus sinica
var.insularis (planted 18” apart) and
Green Mountain, ‘Morris Dwarf’ buxus microphylla var. Japonica.
She is 100% organic and uses drip irrigation.
Andrea invited all to visit her bucolic, glamorous Garden
State nursery and home at any time. I,
for one, will be motoring to this garden-growing oasis soon. (Of course, please your manners and do call
ahead to the Boxwood Queen and hostess….)
Cheers!
