Control PLANT DISEASES
in yard and garden

Mimeo BP 2-12

Fungicides for Shrubs and Vines

Shrubs and vines are used around the home grounds mainly as landscape supplements for flowers, trees and lawns. Like their garden neighbors, shrubs and vines may fall victim to a variety of plant diseases.
Diseases are, of course, unwelcome visitors any time, but the extent of damage they do to shrubs and vines usually varies from season to season. These diseases are rarely fatal at first. But if permitted to go unchecked for several years, they will gradually weaken costly perennial shrubs and vines until the combined effects of disease, insects, and weather kill the plants.
Most common vine and shrub diseases can be prevented, but they are often impos-sible to eliminate after they are well estab-lished.

CONTROL THROUGH CULTURAL METHODS
No one method will control all diseases of shrubs and vines. In most cases, it takes a combination of chemical and cultural practices to prevent plant disease damage. Here are the basic cultural measures that home-owners should follow:
1. Plant shrubs and vines in well-drained sunny locations.
2. Plant only winter hardy, locally-adapted types.
3. Give them plenty of fertilizer and water.
4. Collect and burn any diseased leaves and twigs to prevent new infections. Prune out any cankered and diseased wood in the spring to prevent spread of disease as well as to improve appearance of the shrub.
5. Treat with an antiseptic agent (such as orange shellac) any badly bruised, cut or splintered plant parts, including areas where diseased tissue has been removed. Before applying a dressing, smooth the surface of the wound and taper the margin to
an elliptical form with tapered ends.

CONTROL THROUGH CHEMICAL METHODS
Fungicidal chemicals can protect shrubs or vines against disease (1) by preventing a disease-causing organism from becoming established or (2) by killing or checking one already established. Whether fungicides are applied as sprays or dusts, to be effective they must be applied uniformly to all susceptible plant parts and must be reapplied at 7 to 10-day intervals as long as the danger of plant disease exists.
No single fungicide will effectively control all diseases of shrubs and vines. However, for the homeowner with only a few shrubs, an all-round spray combination, such as ferbam -sulfur or the commercial general-purpose sprays or dusts, should do. On the other hand, specific fungicides recommended for specific diseases will give best results.

Cooperative Extension Service PURDUE UNIVERSITY Lafayette, Indiana
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Life Science Building