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Help with termite tenting damage
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Posted by twotzus Z10/ sunset 24 (My Page) on Sun, Dec 31, 06 at 13:04
| Hello, I am not a regular of this forum but I need some help. In November, we tented our house for termites. The company told us to cut back all foundation plants 12-18 inches, which we did. We lost a scraggly Iochroma,(don't care) possibly Stephanotis (not sure yet), but most upsetting is that my hellebores all turned black on the top. They are planted a good 3+ feet in front of the house wall and at least 4 feet from the deck (which was also covered by the tent). Interestingly, this damage was not immediate but showed up a week or so after the tenting. My Nelly Moser clematis which is planted closed to the house is fine. I don't know why the hellebores suffered so much damage, unless the tent was dropped or draped over them when it was removed, exposing them to the pesticide fumes. My problem is I don't know what to do with them. Should I cut off all the blackened leaves to the undergrowth? A couple look like they have shiny green growth underneath, yet others show no green at all. Are they dead? Should I wait a few months to see if they perk up? Thanks in advance.
Tzus |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Help with termite tenting damage
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| If they are the oriental hybrids, Helleborus x hybridus, then you can safely cut off the damaged foliage now. In fact, many growers routinely remove the old foliage right about now (or when flower bud nubs become visible at the soil line) to refresh the plant for the bloom season. It will rapidly develop new foliar growth once the flower stems emerge. If it is a different type of hellebore, my recommendation could change :-) Are we talking about x hybridus or another species/hybrid? FWIW, I know of no termiticides that would be partcularly damaging to hellebores. Borax-based baits are sometimes used in soil treatments and there is a slight possibility that hellebores would find higher concentrations of boron toxic, but this is not common in a tented fumigation. |
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