It should come as a surprise to no one who's followed the weather in the northeast (rain, anyone? How about more rain, and more and more...) that leaf fungus are making an ugly appearance in the garden. It should be a great year for them. Even invasive mainstays like
Tradescantia have been attacked and are looking horrible.
And there's nothing that can be done. The weather doesn't appear to be changing soon, and I hate the idea of spraying fungicides all over the place--it's doubtful they'd have any effect anyway. The implication is that certain things in the garden will look like, well...you know what.
What to do?
If you can stand the sight of spotted leafs and collapsing plants, doing nothing is an option. Ma Nature has been here before, and so have gardens. Plants may be lost--and will at least be set back significantly. In the event you can't stand the look of your garden, the other option (I've already ruled out the spray--I don't have the capability for flyovers...) is to clean things up. Cutting and removing affected plants will immediately improve the looks of any bed, BUT care must be taken with disposal AND your cutting tools. It's easy to spread these diseases and sloppy horticulture IS a vector.
To be on the safe side, don't compost diseased plants; bag them and remove them from the garden. Sterilize your cutting blades well (soak in rubbing alcohol for at least a half-minute or flame until the edge is red) before using them on ANY non-affected plant. Not doing so is akin to plunking a kid with swine flu in the middle of a kindergarten class of vivacious, healthy young children.
It's happened to us again. Here we were, bemoaning the lack of rain and setting up all the irrigation to compensate, only to have the heavens open in biblical fashion. We obviously have no pull where it really counts. Do what you can, manage the damage, and be here again next year.
Cent' anni! You'll need them...
Float your way back to BotanicalGardening.com...see you soon.
