What to do with the clippings?
As long as the boxwood is healthy and not infected by fungal or bacterial diseases or pests such as the boxwood moth, you can easily chop it up and dispose of it on the compost heap, well mixed with grass clippings and, if necessary, a compost accelerator. In this form, the clippings are also very suitable as mulching material for ornamental and useful plant beds.
also read
- Can you compost boxwood?
- Cutting boxwood: Better with an underlay
- Freezing yellow beans - these options are available
What to do if sick boxwood has to be disposed of?
However, if the box is affected by wilting or the dreaded death of shoots, or if it has even been hopelessly eaten bald by the box tree moth, you must on no account compost it or mulch other beds with the material. Pathogens and pests sometimes survive for years and then strike again in the following years. The caterpillars of the moth, for example, hibernate inside the boxwood, protected, and fungal spores survive for a very long time even under the most adverse conditions. So if you have to get rid of contaminated clippings, it is best to dispose of them
- via household waste (residual waste bin)
- via the organic waste (organic waste bin or brown bin)
- in appropriately designated containers at the recycling center (ask in advance!)
- or at a campfire (obtain approval from the authorities beforehand!)
If the boxwood is to be disposed of in the garbage, it is best to pack it airtight in a bag or something similar. In this way, the cause of the disease cannot escape and possibly spread further.
Why am I allowed to throw the clippings in the organic waste bin but not compost them myself?
Now it is advisable not to compost the box infected with the box tree moth yourself, but to dispose of it in the organic waste bin. Their content ends up on the compost, even if it is industrially dimensioned. What's the difference, can't the moth spread here? No, because industrially operated composting plants heat the compost material to temperatures of more than 55 ° C for a period of several weeks. The moth does not survive this treatment in all of its developmental stages, which is why disposal is unproblematic. On the other hand, on the domestic compost, the temperature development and hygiene cannot be monitored nearly as closely, so that the animals can survive and continue to multiply.
Tips
Fighting the box tree moth effectively is a difficult matter, especially since it keeps coming back after recovery phases. If the pressure of infestation is high, it can make sense to forego the cultivation of beech trees and instead select similar plants as substitutes.
