I have a lot of boxwoods around my house that have been here since we bought the place 9 years ago. I would guess that they are around 15 years old. Over the past three years, I have lost 4 of them and don't know what is killing them. There seems to be a lot of spider webs in and around them and I am wondering if they are infested with something. I bought some Triazicid to spray them but don't really know if that would be the thing to do or not. I don't want to kill what I have left. Could someone out there please give me some advice as to what I should do to keep them healthy. I live in Charlotte, NC and it is in the heat of the summer right now (in the 90's). Should I spray them now or wait until fall? Thanks for any suggestions.
If you're concerned about spider mites (which are not the same as regular spiders), which are infinitesimal and who make tiny webs between stems and branches, you need some Safer's Insecticidal Soap spray as per directions, and after a hard spray of water has just dried, repeated twice a week apart. The other thing that can kill boxwood besides insects (and spider mites was just a guess, there could be any number of others) is bad drainage (soil) together with overwatering.
if it is spider mites, triazicide should take care of it. According to the labeling directions you might need to make repeat applications. To test for mites, place a white sheet of paper under one of the leaves and tap the leaves to see if any super small dots land on the paper. They could be brown, white, black, or red. The leaves will usually have a speckled, bronzey yellow/green appearance from spider mite damage.
