Honey fungus attacking a privet hedge

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I have a privet hedge that is dying with the characteristic white film under the root bark. Advice from the RHS is to dig out the hedge and grow something else. I believe there used to be a chemical to treat honey fungus but this was banned by the EU. Has anyone discovered an alternative treatment? Thanks
 
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I have it and I really don't believe you can get rid of it. It will lurk in the soil on diseased roots for years. and will infect plants whose roots grow into the affected area. I expect you are aware of the plastic barrier method. You would have to drench the soil with vast amounts of chemical so it is not practicable. For a small hedge you could try digging a good trench and refilling it with clean soil. If you plant a Box hedge it is said to be resistant but is very slow-growing and the plants (though easily rooted from cuttings) rather expensive.

Put grass, gravel or paving down, and small shrubs nearby whose roots will not extend into the diseased soil. I have lost cherry and apple trees, a vine, roses and rhubarb when they got big enough. The original diseased tree was felled more than 20 years ago, before my house was built, and is shown on the original plans. For some years I used to get yellow toadstools coming up through the grass along the track of the old roots, but that seems to have died away now.

BTW if you happen to get moss on the paving, Bio-gem and Armillatox are licenced for use as hard-surface moss-killers.
 
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BTW if you happen to get moss on the paving, Bio-gem and Armillatox are licenced for use as hard-surface moss-killers.

No. When the manufacturer of Armillatox chose not to put it through the EU approval and registration process as a fungicide, it was then only approved for sale as a detergent although the formulation remained unchanged and there were instructions on the internet for using it as a fungicide. It has since disappeared off the market altogether. The websites are no longer available although the company is still listed as active at Companies House, it appears not to be trading.

Bio-gem also appears to be no longer available.
 
Thanks everyone. Looks like you can still buy Armillatox but it is very expensive at £80. I was interested in the active ingredients which appear to be Coal tar and Caster oil soap, similar to Jeyes Fluid. I've used firebreaks in the ground of butyl rubber so hopefully that will limit it's spread.
 
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I'm pretty sure that whatever you think you're buying it's not Armillatox or, when you try to place an order, it will be permanently out of stock. There is no licensed product with that name so anyone selling or using it is doing so unlawfully.

Perhaps you can provide a link to the retailer page?
 
I'm pretty sure that whatever you think you're buying it's not Armillatox or, when you try to place an order, it will be permanently out of stock. There is no licensed product with that name so anyone selling or using it is doing so unlawfully.

Perhaps you can provide a link to the retailer page?

Hello Ceres

link below (though like you say it may not be licensed)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soap-Based-...TF8&qid=1455559741&sr=8-1&keywords=armillatox
41HU7IdOsjL.jpg


Good article here
http://mhlandscapes.com/how-to-treat-honey-fungus/

http://landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum/topics/armillatox-anyone-know-a-supplier
 
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Thanks for that, very interesting. The Amazon seller is Link-a-bord who I've come across before with their modular raised beds. What I hadn't come across before is that Link-a-bord is manufactured by Armillatox Ltd from the same address that Armillatox used. It's not clear whether they are back in production or selling off old stock but it appears to be a bit under the radar. I think I'll follow up with the HSE and see exactly what the status of Armillatox is now.
 
If you remove the affected parts of the hedge, then make sure you also remove one healthy hedge section ether side of the affected area, just incase the fungus has already spread to them. I have some Armillatox that I used before replacing my privet. It didn't work but maybe I could have persisted a little longer? But I obtained some new privet plants to replace the diseased ones.
 

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