Combating an Invasive Boxwood Pathogen – Calonectria pseudonaviculata – in the United States by Shifting Production to Less Susceptible Cultivars

Abstract

Boxwood Blight (BB) caused by Calonectria pseudonaviculata (Cps) is an economically devastating disease affecting the entire boxwood supply chain from growers to gardeners, since it was first officially documented in the United States in 2011. This disease has taken a heavy toll on boxwood, an iconic landscape plant and the number one evergreen nursery crop. The objective of this study was to examine the adoption of one sustainable management strategy available to growers: shifting boxwood production from highly susceptible to less susceptible cultivars. We investigated the ongoing shift by comparing boxwood sales of 17 selected nurseries from seven states across the country in 2011, 2016 and 2021. Results revealed that from 2021 to 2016, sales of cultivars highly susceptible to BB were reduced by over 35% while less sales of less susceptible boxwood cultivars increased 55%. Increased boxwood sales have been seen for ‘Winter Gem’, ‘Wintergreen’, ‘SB 300’ (Freedom®), ‘SB 108’ (Independence®), and ‘Little Missy’, all of which have been rated less susceptible than B. sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’ in numerous trials. The potential for long-term positive impact on sustainable boxwood production and plantings in the U.S. through the use of such less susceptible cultivars is discussed. Better boxwood cultivar choices will build crop health into new plantings and sustain customer demand for boxwood. This is a case study for how sustainable crop protection strategy helps to maintain production of a crop under serious pressure from an invasive pathogen.