Diagnose: Boxwood Blight

1. Leaf spots plus black stem streaks and fast leaf drop
2. Begin at the bottom of the shrub. Boxwood blight often starts with round brown spots on lower leaves, then those leaves turn brown and drop while numerous narrow black streaks appear lengthwise on young green stems. One spotted leaf is not enough to confirm this disease. Uniform bronze foliage after winter, straw-colored leaves that stay attached, blistered leaves, or yellow decline above wet soil each point toward a different problem. Treat the shrub as a suspect only when the signs form the blight sequence, then ask a plant diagnostic laboratory or local Extension service how to submit a sealed sample.

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