My guest this week is Belgian nurseryman Karel Goossens. Karel runs an internationally renowned nursery supplying box plants and is the Chairman of the Belgian arm of the European Boxwood & Topiary Society. With decades of experience growing box and an irreverent approach to tackling the problems that go along with it, when he was recommended to me I thought he was my ideal sort of guest. He does recommend intensive cultivation methods which include spraying chemical fungicides and insecticides, so this episode is not for everyone. However, I do acknowledge that many historic gardens are built around a backbone of box and that many listeners are professional gardeners who deal with box and its attendant blights, so this episode is a practical look at what you can do.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Box Tree Moth
Links
Kwekerij Goossens on Instagram
European Boxwood & Topiary Society
Karel’s website for tripod ladders
Our Plant Stories with Sally Flatman
Other episodes if you liked this one:
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