dying privet

i have a privet hedge which has been gradually dying over the past 3/4 years.at first i suspected honey fungus but found no toadstools or "bootlaces".does anyone know what this could be?i suspect a disease as when one plant dies the one next to it begins to wither adjacent shrubs also are not affected

 

If it's not honey fungus and the symptoms you describe are pretty damning then I'm at a loss. Honey fungus tends to fruit only when it has no contact with a new victim so to survive it sends up fruit bodies (mushrooms) in order to spore.

Any chance of a few photos to see what type of damage they are sufffering from. Privet wevil is more nuisance value unless the leaves are being totally stripped and the nibbled leaf margins are quite characteristic.

 

It takes a lot to kill privet, and my only experience has involved honey fungus. Bootlaces are just what it says - black lacey srtands, and mycelium. There's a really fungusy smell too, even if there aren't always any mushrooms to see. It spreads through privet, pretty well all the rose family, which includes things like apple and cherry, etc - and lots of other woody trees and shrubs. Check out the RHS site for a list of plants that are a bit more resistant to it, which can be planted instead, but nobody makes any promises. They used to recommend armillatox for it, but it's not allowed here now for anything more than cleaning things, unfortunately.

 

I still recommend Armillatox :D

It's not banned, just a daft new EC/UK rule that says the manufacturer has to spend millions to proove that a product which has been on sale for years with no problems is perfectly safe. Small companies cannot afford the lab testing and lawyers while the chemical giants get away with murder.

Amillatox is still widely available but has to be sold as a soap based garden cleaner not as a fungicide :rolleyes:

 

hi all,
a weak mix of jeyes fluid helps, say a cap full in 4 gallons, english money!( approx 20 euro litres *$%^)
agree about Armillatox as well