Beech Hedge disease

Nevsy

Hiya,wondering if anybody can help with advice please.
We have a beech hedge that has been happily growing for more than 11 years since we bought our house approx 7 foot tall,this year it has suddenly died,and a gardener that comes in our shop has tried to help to save it with miracle grow etc,but says there is a diease doing the rounds that are killing these hedges in Devon.
We were hoping to save it with new green shoots appearing at base of hedge but they appear to be withering and dying as well.
Any advice how we can possibly save it? cut it right back or dig it up,if so could anyone recommend a quick growing cheap alternative that we could buy to plant in its place that will not be affected by the disease. It is at the front of our house and provides some privacy from people walking by -but at the moment its a 7 foot wall of dried brown dead wood and leaves with a few shoots sprouting at the bottom. Any advice much appreciated on saving it or what to replace it with preferably fast growing and as cheap as possible,apart from leylandi,got a few of them in the back garden and a pain in the rear!!
I have been trying to find out about this beech hedge disease online but have not had much luck,but seems to be pretty common in Devon and Cornwall at the moment.
Many thanks.

westiea

Hi
well without examining it and by it I mean checking roots of the beech it is difficult to say definitely.
However it certainly sounds like you hedge has a Phytophthora - Sudden Oak Death. Google 'Fagus spp' (Latin name for you Beech) and you will see it is susceptible and the south west of England has been hit worst.
I think you really need to contact PHSI - Fera Plant Health on 01904 465625 to confirm that this is the case. They will give you the correct advice as to what to do.
No amount of feeding etc is going to help it and if it is a Phytophthora then it is a notifiable disease I am afraid.

gardenroute

It could well be phytophora. I think you should go outside and look for any signs of insect damage, cankers, etc; and cut an infected stem and look at the ring under the bark to see what colour it is.
There's several different types of phytophora and you should find out which one it is (if it is).
There should be someone local to you who can tell you for sure. It is a notifiable disease so this should be dealt with quickly. The sooner the better IMHO.
Leylandii are one of the few plants resistant to phytop. so you may have to learn to love them.
If it isn't phytop. then you have an aggressive disease that can't be resolved with feeding the hedge.

Nevsy51

Many thanks for your advice.It certainly seems to be the problem,so we will be digging them up and destroying them and will look to get some golden leylandii.