Sep 14, 2022

HRI to Host Oregon Boxwood Health Workshop

Registration is now open for the Oct. 20, 2022, event in Oregon.

The Horticultural Research Institute is teaming up with Oregon State University (OSU), USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN) to bring growers boxwood blight best management practices and research updates. Designed to educate growers, each session will provide the attendees with the latest research and give them actionable tactics to implement in the nursery. The cost is $15. Registration is required; space is limited to 40 people.

Over a quarter of all boxwood — the number one broadleaf evergreen shrub — production in the U.S. occurs in either Oregon, California or Washington. A handful of pests challenge boxwood production and landscape management, but boxwood blight has emerged as a significant threat. This disease is even more troublesome in the Pacific Northwest since symptoms appear to be more subtle as compared with other regions.

USDA-Agricultural Research Service and OSU are bringing experts to the Willamette Valley for a workshop to talk about boxwood health.

Located at the OSU North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, Oregon, the Boxwood Health Workshop will begin at 8:30am and end at 12:00pm, on Oct. 20, 2022, with five distinct sessions. Following the last session, attendees have the option to visit an onsite boxwood blight research plot with the researchers. Speakers include experts from OSU, the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, and ODA.

Specific topics include the latest updates on scouting and disease management tips, how nursery production practices and environment influence disease outbreaks, the boxwood blight infection risk app, fungicide selection and coverage, and the ODA boxwood blight cleanliness program.

Anticipated pesticide recertification credits will be available from OR. For more information and to register for the event, visit: https://ofa.wufoo.com/forms/m1gsqbwq1gm44ed/.