Huntree Newsletter End of Season 2026
October 27, 2026 5:53 pmHi there all you lovely plant lovers!
Haven’t we been having a glorious fall! Wow! It doesn’t seem possible that we are ready to close our doors for the season. But it’s true. Saturday is our last official, regular hours day. But that doesn’t mean we won’t be here. We have a lot to do to put everything to bed for the winter. So, you can still stop in to get your needed supplies. Monday through Fridays we’ll be around. If the weather is bad, we may not be. Call ahead and Jan can run across the yard and meet you here.
Once again, we have to harp on WATERING. The soil is getting dry. You do not want your plants going into winter dry. So, keep watering, especially if you have newly planted trees and shrubs.
Prevent winterburn on your evergreens with a simple solution. Spray them with an antidessicant to seal in the moisture. Come in and get your bottle of antidessicant. Broadleafed evergreens such as Rhododendron and Hollies especially enjoy this application.
Protect your plants from deer browsing. Either spray with deer repellant or wrap those precious plants with burlap. We have deer netting, 3 brands of deer repellant, and tree guards.
Do you have questions about trimming your Hydrangeas?
Annabelles – cut them down to a foot high. (Yes, they will pop right back up next spring.)
PG s – trim them back to where they grew this past year. They flower on new growth, so you will not be trimming off next year’s flower buds.
Big Leaf Hydrangeas – the pink and blue ones – Just trim off the old flower heads. Do not shorten down the stems. Why??? Because the flower buds for next year are already formed.
Cut back Butterfly Bushes down to about a foot high. (Do not cut them all the way back to the ground.) Giving them a trim will encourage a bushy, full habit, with more flowers. If you like the rangy, loose, wild look, don’t trim.
Perovskia (Russian Sage) and Lavender are two other plants that you shouldn’t cut back to the ground due to the fact that they have woody stems. Just trim to shape.
All other perennials can be taken right down to the ground.
It’s still a great time to plant Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, and Frittilaria. Come get ‘em.
At the bottom of this letter, we reposted the Boxwood Blight Information. (It is also posted on our webpage Huntree.com in our blog.) This is very important info. Please read it carefully and be on the lookout for symptoms. When pruning Boxwood, be sure to sterilize your pruning equipment before and afterwards with bleach and water, 1 to 10 ratio. Sterilize even if you see no symptoms. This is a serious fungal problem.
And YES, it’s still a great time to plant trees. Come get ‘em. We got ‘em.
Remember the sleep, creep, leap thing? Plant this fall, let it sleep this winter and it will be ready to creep in the spring.
We so appreciate our customers and love helping you out with your gardening projects. Thank you for your business this year and look forward to seeing you next year.
Jan and the Huntree Gang
Boxwood Blight Newsletter October 2026
We have just become aware that Boxwood Blight has appeared in our community. It is a devastating fungus. We are very distressed about this. This week a homeowner has come in with a diagnostic report from MSU concluding that their Boxwoods do have Boxwood Blight. We are alarmed!
Read the following to familiarize yourself with the symptoms of this fungal pathogen and inspect your Boxwoods.
- Symptoms: Brown leaf spots that lead to defoliation
Black streaking on the stems
Leaves turning brown
Leaves falling off the plant in great numbers
The symptoms usually appear in late summer and fall.
Wet foliage favors this disease. Avoid overhead irrigation.
Ensure good air circulation in planting beds by providing adequate spacing between plants. (Three homeowners who have determined to have blight have a large concentration of many Boxwoods planted in tight spaces and trimmed tightly. )
Once blight infection begins, it cannot be effectively controlled.
Remove the affected plants, placing them in bags and sending them to the landfill. Do not compost them or leave them in the yard. Also clean up any dead leaves laying around on the ground. Place them in a plastic bag and send them to the landfill as well. Burning is also an acceptable method of disposing.
Do not let anyone prune your Boxwoods without sterilizing pruning tools before and after. Use a solution of: 1 part bleach to 9 parts water or 1.25 oz Lysol Concentrate Disinfectant to 1 gallon water. At least 5 minute contact time is recommended for tools. These products are corrosive, so oil tools after treatment. At least 10 minutes for pots or other surfaces.
Place two to 3 inches of mulch under existing plants to prevent splashing water from spreading the spores.
Prevent stress to your Boxwood. Do not overwater. Boxwoods do very well in dryer soils.
Do not use overhead watering methods. (Watering multiple times a week is not a good idea!)
Spores can remain in the soil for 5 or 6 years after removal of affected plants. Do not replant Boxwoods in same location.
To protect existing Boxwood which have no symptoms, fungicides may be applied to prevent spread of spores. Apply beginning in spring when daytime temps are between 60 and 80 degrees and prolonged rain is predicted. Spray every 7 to 14 days.
Effective products are chlorothalonil (Daconil), propiconazol + chlorothalonil, and chlorothalonil + thiophanate-methyl (Spectro 90 WDG).
Do not use Boxwood branches for Christmas decorations.
(Not all brown leaves on Boxwoods are blight. Leaf miner is an insect causing bubble-like lesions on the leaf which turns brown, so inspect the leaves before you jump to the wrong conclusion.)
Go online to Virginia Tech: Boxwood blight to see pictures.
If you want to have a sample diagnosed, go to the MSU diagnostic lab website:
MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics
East Lansing, MI 517-355-4536
These are the varieties of Boxwood that we have that have blight resistance in 3 gallon pots.
North Star (aka Columnar)
Green Mountain
Wee Willie
Sprinter
We also have Independence New Gen in 1 gallon pots.
Categorised in: Newsletter
This post was written by MHarrison9
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