Richard: Greg, before us obviously are two different
kinds of boxwood here. One group that seems
to be reasonably healthy.
This one poor specimen right here on the end
that is not doing so well; it hasn't
fared very well the last couple years.
I am aware that this could be
because of a variety choice, this could be because of winter weather, this could be perhaps
from diseases.
When a homeowner has a plant that looks distinctly
different from what would have been healthy,
what are some of the choices we might have
to take into account to whether or not we can even 
save a plant like this?
Greg: Well as you mentioned Richard, this could be caused by any number of things and
as you all well know, the sixty-four thousand dollar
question asked by many homeowners is,
'Why did my shrub die or why is it looking poorly?'
And many times homeowners would like to take
this shrub, which is again off-color and definitely
in decline,
and they think fertilizer will magically revive this.
And
oftentimes that is not the case because this
may have a situation where, like you mentioned,
cultivar differences. This one over here
might be a different cultivar variety than this one,
which is better able to withstand conditions,
weather, all that kind of thing, and that's why
this one grew well and this one didn't. This
one over here was part of a whole different
system of hedge that went this way, so that cultivar might have been different than the one this way.
The other thing is, of course, it's next to a
sidewalk area.
What about salt damage over the years
affecting the shrub? Richard: Excess moisture even, running off the side. Greg: And this might a poorly drained spot because
water collects here and boxwoods really don't like a lot
of wet feet. So
we've got excess moisture, we've go salt damage, we've got cultivar differences.
There might also be a disease issue here. We've
had a
nasty round of disease that have been affecting
boxwoods in our area.
A lot of canker issues, fungal issues,
that are taking out boxwoods in selective
fashion, like these brown areas.
And again it's in decline.
Weather. Just flat-out weather. There might have been, again, a very nasty open winter
that will take out a shrub that's in a more exposed area.
So the bottom line is,
what happens when a shrub looks like this and
what should one do? I think the sensible answer,
if you want to maintain a good looking landscape,
is really,
take this one out.  Richard: Alright.
Greg: Remove it,
replace it with, again, another boxwood if you want to maintain the hedge, or maybe some suitable
plant. But I think
to try and think that you're gonna save this thing
and make it come back to a
specimen that looks like this is really highly unlikely.
Richard: I also know that unless you happen to be
the owner of the property, and have the design,
and have the variety that was planted to begin
with,
trying to just go out and find a boxwood to match is just about impossible. Greg: That will be impossible.
Richard: Varieties change. What was planted ten years
ago may no longer even be in the trade. Greg: Right.
Richard: And it's just very difficult to match them
up and once they, they may have had a natural
shape to begin with but once you've taken
head shears to them you just
destroy any chance of really matching it up
I think.  Greg: And I think what you see here
would be a thing to, kind of,
maybe look at for other plants in the landscape
that people see in decline
or definitely not worth saving. What does one
do? And I think the sensible answer is, let's replace
it with something that is going to enhance
the landscape. Let's not play too long with
this thing even though many people get attached
to it.
Richard: Right.  Greg: It may not be worth saving.
And by the time you all get done messing
around with this thing, you really haven't accomplished
anything and you end up replacing it anyways.
Richard: Good ideas. Thank you Greg.
