The boxwood plant (Buxus) is represented by shrubs and trees characterized by slow growth, which are directly related to the boxwood family. In the wild, you can find about 100 species of such plants. Boxwoods are found in the Mediterranean, East Asia, and also in the West Indies. In ancient Greece, such a plant was called “buxus”, and this word was borrowed from a language unknown to anyone. In the wild, there are only three large areas of boxwood, namely: Central American, African, Euro-Asian. Boxwood has been cultivated for a long time and is even considered one of the oldest ornamental plants. It is grown both in the garden and at home. In areas with a warm, mild climate, it is grown both as borders and hedges, and used to decorate gardens or lawns, effectively forming bushes. Such a plant grown in an apartment is an ideal option for bonsai. The fact is that it feels great in a compact pot, bushes well, has small leaf blades, and also responds well to pruning.
Features of boxwood
The leaves of this plant are oppositely located, leathery, entire, and have an almost round or elliptical shape. Fragrant, small, unisexual flowers are part of small inflorescences. The boxwood fruit is a three-lobed capsule, which, after ripe, cracks, and the shiny black seeds scatter in different directions. Such a plant is a honey plant, but you need to be very careful, since boxwood honey cannot be used for food, because any part of the boxwood contains poison. Landscape designers highly value this plant for its spectacular crown, glossy leaf blades, and the fact that it tolerates pruning very well. And gardeners appreciated the undemanding care of this plant, as well as its shade-loving nature.
Features of boxwoods. Caring for boxwoods. How to plant and grow boxwoods correctly
How to care for a plant?
Caring for boxwood at home is simple even for inexperienced summer residents. It does not require heavy watering (6 liters of water per bush 1 m in length in the morning or evening is enough).
If the climate is arid, more abundant watering is indicated, which should be carried out no more than once every 7 days. Sometimes it is recommended to carry out cleaning - to wash off the layer of dirt from dusty foliage.
The plant should be fed for the first time no earlier than a month after planting in the soil. If the soil has been fertilized in advance, the procedure should be postponed for six months.
The plant can be pruned only in the 2nd year of its life. It's better to do this in May. The formation of the crown is possible already in the 3rd year of the boxwood’s life.
In the cold season, it is best to cover the young shoots of the plant with burlap to preserve its viability. Before covering with fabric, boxwood bushes should be tied so that the fallen snow does not break off the fragile branches.
Planting boxwood in open ground
What time to plant
Experienced gardeners have a rule: plant plants that bloom in autumn in spring, and vice versa. Following it, it is recommended to plant boxwood in the autumn and this should be done from the second half of September until the beginning of October, since it will take about 4 weeks to take root, after which it will be able to overwinter well. However, there are also gardeners who quite successfully plant boxwood in the garden both in spring and summer. To plant boxwood, it is recommended to choose a semi-shaded or shaded place, and the suitable soil should be clayey, moist, well-drainable, and also contain lime. From direct rays of the sun, the leaf plates of such a plant are quickly injured.
How to plant
If the seedling is in a container, it needs to be watered thoroughly about 24 hours before planting in open soil. Thanks to this, you can easily remove the root system and lump of soil from the container. But it is best to carefully pull out the seedling, remove the soil from its roots and place them in water for 1 day, and this should be done immediately before planting.
The depth and width of the hole for a given plant should be approximately 3 times the size of the root system along with the lump of earth. At the bottom of the prepared hole, place a layer of perlite for drainage, which should not be very thick (2-3 centimeters). The soil that was removed from the hole should be combined with perlite in a 1:1 ratio. The roots of the plant must be straightened and then placed in the hole. After this, they begin to gradually fill it with a substrate (soil mixed with perlite), but no voids should be allowed to remain. When the hole is filled, the soil should be lightly compacted, after which the boxwood should be watered. A seedling with a height of 15 to 20 centimeters will need approximately 3 liters of liquid, and it is recommended to use well-settled rainwater. After the plant is watered, the soil should settle; when this happens, more soil should be poured into the hole, but this time there is no need to compact it. Make sure that the trunk of the seedling is located strictly vertically in the hole after planting. It is necessary to make an earthen shaft in a circle, retreating 20–30 centimeters from the stem, so that the liquid does not spread during watering. The surface of the tree trunk circle should be sprinkled with a one- or two-centimeter layer of perlite.
Boxwood in the landscape: pros and cons
Buxus boasts many variations, since in nature there are more than a hundred species and varieties of this evergreen plant. The following varieties are especially popular: Aureovariegata, Winter Jam, Balearic, Carly Locks, Suffriticosa, Faulkner and others.
Before planting this beautiful crop in the garden, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the list of disadvantages and advantages.
The undeniable advantages include the following features:
● Evergreen boxwood delights with its beauty both in the summer and winter seasons. Unlike deciduous plants, this crop pampers with a lush crown all year round.
● The bush holds the shape that the gardener gave it for a long time, thanks to the slow growth of shoots. This means that the plant can be successfully used to create complex living compositions and labyrinths.
● A fresh, trimmed bush looks neat and well-groomed: the effect of a smooth surface is successfully achieved due to the dense crown.
● The plant is a long-lived plant and, with proper care, can live more than five hundred years.
● A more pronounced decorative effect can be achieved by alternating varieties that differ from each other in shade, size and shape of the leaves.
● The crop can act as a living background for other plants and can be planted harmoniously along fences and walls.
● Most varieties adapt well to different types of climate and take root in any latitude.
● During flowering, boxwood gives off a pleasant aroma.
● Quickly and easily propagated by cuttings and is pleased with its high similarity.
● During the process of photosynthesis, the plant releases phytoncides, which make the air fresh, clean and healthy for the human body.
● The plant is absolutely unpretentious in care. Obtaining healthy seedlings is possible with minimal care.
The disadvantages include the following features:
● Despite the plant's honey production, it is not recommended to plant it near an apiary. Certain trace elements of the culture cause a strong hallucinogenic effect, so buxus honey should not be eaten.
● Boxwood flowers are small and not beautiful.
● Alkaloids contained in the plant make boxwood poisonous. Therefore, when performing gardening work, it is important to pay attention to safety precautions. It is also necessary to exclude the possibility of pets and small animals eating the leaves. After tactile contact with the culture, you must immediately wash your hands.
Of course, the advantages significantly outweigh the disadvantages of the plant. And this explains the fact that culture is widespread throughout the world.
Features of garden care
How to grow boxwood
Growing boxwood is very simple, especially if you are familiar with the basic rules of its cultivation. If after the plant is planted it does not rain for a week, then it needs to be watered. When watering, it is worth considering that a meter-high bush should require 10 liters of water. Water should be poured carefully at the root to the surface; it should be taken into account that if there is a dry period outside or dry and rather hot winds are blowing, then there is no need to increase the frequency of watering, but more water should be poured. When watering is completed, it is imperative to loosen the surface of the soil and carry out weeding at the same time. In the first days of May, after the soil has warmed up thoroughly, you need to sprinkle its surface with a layer of mulch (peat), the thickness of which varies from 5 to 8 centimeters. It should be taken into account that peat should not touch young shoots or the trunk of the plant.
Boxwood needs to be fed systematically. The first feeding should be done only 4 weeks after the seedling is planted. But this is only if planting was done in the spring, since fertilizers can be added to the soil only after the seedling has completely rooted. During intensive growth, the plant needs organic or complex mineral fertilizer, and in the autumn, while digging, potassium or phosphorus fertilizers are added to the soil, because boxwood does not need nitrogen at this time.
Transfer
It is recommended to replant such a plant in spring. The fact is that over the summer and autumn it will have time to take root well and will safely survive the winter. Transplantation of adult specimens should be carried out together with a clod of earth. The transplantation rules are identical to those used when planting seedlings in open ground. If you follow these rules, the plant will quickly and easily take root in a new location.
Trimming
Pruning should be done in April or in the first days of May. Often, when pruning, boxwood bushes are shaped into a cone, cube or ball. Boxwood can also be cultivated as a standard tree. To do this, it is necessary to cut all the stems, except the strongest, to the very root. Those young stems that grow at the top of the central standard stem are pruned, usually giving them the shape of a ball. It should be remembered that once you have formed a bush, you will only need to correct its shape from time to time, and all because boxwood is a slow-growing plant. In this case, as a rule, only growing young stems need to be trimmed, and old ones may need adjustment only if the shape of the bush is completely lost. Pruning does not cause any harm to the bush, and the more often you trim, the thicker it will become. Experts advise trimming boxwood regularly once a month. But it should be taken into account that the more frequent the pruning, the more often you need to water and fertilize. The fact is that the bush needs to restore its strength, replenish those nutrients that were lost along with the cut leaf plates.
Boxwood pruning
Diseases and pests
The most dangerous pest for this plant is the boxwood gall midge. In the first days of summer, she lays her eggs in those young leaf plates that are located on the tops of the stems. The emerging larvae eat into the leaf tissue and remain there for the winter. And already in May, adult individuals emerge from the formed pupae. If there are a lot of these pests on a plant, then it begins to dry out and die. You can get rid of this harmful insect with the help of Karbofos, Tagore, Aktar, Fufanon. 1.5 weeks after treatment, inspect the boxwood; if there is no significant improvement, then treat it a second time. These insecticidal agents will help get rid of felt weeds. You can recognize an infection with it by swellings on the leaf blades, and the shoots begin to fade. These remedies will also help get rid of spider mites, which can appear during a long drought.
This plant can become infected with shoot necrosis, in which spots appear on the leaf blades and the tops of the branches begin to die. In order to get rid of such a disease, fungicidal agents will be needed, and, as a rule, several treatments are carried out intermittently. The most dangerous thing for this plant is cancer. You need to cut off the affected parts of an infected bush, but be sure to grab healthy wood as well. After this, the sections should be treated with Fundazol.
In Moscow and Moscow region
Boxwood should be planted in Moscow and the Moscow region, and cared for in exactly the same way as in other areas with a temperate climate. But it is worth considering that if the winter period is quite frosty, then the plant must be prepared for wintering.
Reproduction methods
Boxwood is propagated by seeds, cuttings and layering. Seed propagation is complicated by the fact that planting material quickly loses its germination capacity. It is also not used for growing ornamental varieties. Still, it is possible to grow boxwood from seeds. To do this, already in October-November, the seeds are treated for 24 hours with a hormonal stimulant (“Epin”, “Zircon”). They are then placed in a damp cloth for the seeds to germinate. If after 15-20 days the sprouts have not appeared, cold stratification is carried out in the refrigerator, and then the attempt is repeated.
Germinated seeds are buried 5-10 mm into sandy-peaty soil. The pot is covered with film and kept at room temperature in partial shade. After 2-3 weeks, the seedlings will have grown enough and the shelter can be removed. They are regularly watered and fed several times with a weak solution of mineral fertilizer. Indoor cultivation continues until May, when the frosts have gone and the soil has warmed up.
The cutting method is the most popular. To do this, in the spring, cut the non-lignified tops of branches 10-15 cm long. The cut is made diagonally. In the lower part 3-5 cm long, all foliage with petioles is removed. The cut is immersed in Kornevin for a day, and then the cuttings are planted in loose, fertile soil with the addition of compost and humus. You can use spacious boxes or plant directly in open ground. The cuttings are buried to the very bottom leaves. They are covered with film or glass jars. It is necessary to ventilate and spray the plants daily. They will take root within 1-2 months, after which young shoots will appear. In the first winter, even frost-resistant varieties must be well covered. Cuttings can also be carried out at the end of summer or autumn. However, such seedlings are distributed into pots with loose soil and brought indoors for the winter. The average temperature should be +10…+12°C.
Reproduction by layering gives good results. To do this, in mid-spring, one of the lower shoots is bent to the ground and fixed. The top is lifted and tied to the support. During the summer, it is important to water and fertilize not only the bush itself, but also the layering. When roots develop, you can separate the seedling and move it to a permanent location.
Boxwood propagation
boxwood propagation
As a rule, such a plant is propagated vegetatively, but in some cases boxwood is also grown from seeds. However, when propagating by seed, it should be taken into account that the seeds lose their viability after a relatively short time. However, if you want to grow such a shrub from seed, you should study the instructions below.
Propagation by seeds
Freshly harvested ripened seeds must be immersed for 24 hours in lukewarm water, in which a growth stimulating agent (Zircon or Epin) must be dissolved. After this, you need to moisten 2 towels so that they are not wet, and place the seeds between them; you can also use napkins for this. Then you need to wait until the seeds hatch and whitish sprouts appear, as a rule, this happens after 4 weeks. During the entire waiting time, you need to regularly check the condition of the seeds and keep the towels moist. If after 14–20 days there are still no sprouts, then the fabric with seeds should be placed in the refrigerator on a shelf for storing vegetables for several days. Then they need to be pulled out and put back in a warm place.
When the seeds hatch, you can begin sowing. The container must be filled with peat mixed with sand (1:1). The sprouts must be directed into the substrate. After the seeds are sown, the top of the container should be covered with film or glass. The container is placed in a semi-shaded, warm place and then the seedlings are waited for. You should see the first seedlings after 14–20 days. After you see the first shoots, the shelter should be removed, but the container itself should not be removed from the partial shade. Seedlings need to be watered regularly and also fed with low concentration fertilizers. After the plants have grown and become stronger, they can be planted in open soil, but you should wait until the threat of frost has passed.
Propagation of boxwood by cuttings
Propagation by boxwood cuttings in spring is a method that is most popular among gardeners. For cuttings, use strong young stems that have not yet become lignified at all, and their length should be from 10 to 15 centimeters. The cut is made obliquely and all leaf plates must be torn off from the lower 1/3 of the cutting. Then the cuttings should be immersed in a solution that stimulates root growth for 24 hours. After this, the cuttings need to be washed. They are then planted in open soil. The optimal composition of the soil mixture for boxwood is: leaf soil, rotted humus or compost, sand (1:1:1). You can use a soil mixture or other composition for planting, but it must be rich in nutrients and light. The cuttings must be deepened into the soil mixture up to the leaf blades. After this, each cutting is covered with a 5-liter plastic bottle, the bottom of which must first be removed. Watering the cuttings is done as follows: remove the cap from the neck of the bottle and spray the plant with water from a spray bottle. The boxwood should be ventilated every day in the same way, removing the lid. After 4 weeks, the plant begins to form roots. And after 8 weeks it already has a fully formed root system, and at this very time it will be possible to remove the shelter (bottle). During the first wintering, the cuttings must be covered with spruce branches, otherwise they will freeze.
If you decide to propagate this plant by cuttings, you should remember that in this case the cuttings are planted in pots. The fact is that they will not have time to take root properly and even if you cover it for the winter, it will still die. The cuttings should be stored in a room where the temperature is approximately 10 degrees. In spring, they are planted in open ground.
Reproduction by layering
This method of reproduction is also highly effective and time-tested. In spring, several stems of the bush need to be bent to the surface of the soil and buried. During the summer, they need to be watered and fertilized. When they form roots and the cuttings begin to grow, they can be separated from the parent bush and planted in a new place.
Conditions for keeping the axle
Buxus is cultivated outdoors, using it in many ways: hedges and borders, green figures, single decorative plantings. Potted specimens become a real decoration for balconies and terraces, easily tolerating city conditions.
How to plant boxwood
- Boxwood is planted in open ground in the fall (September–October), or in the spring, after the end of the dormant period (March–April).
- The bush is not picky about the composition of the soil. During planting, it is recommended to add humus, approximately 5 kg per square meter.
- Seedlings are difficult to tolerate transplantation, so it should be as gentle as possible. The night before, the earthen ball is watered generously so that it shakes out easily during transplantation.
- When forming hedges, boxwood seedlings are placed at a distance of 50 cm between the bushes. The tree trunk circle is mulched with peat.
- Further care in the open ground is ensured by regular watering and, if necessary, decorative pruning. In winter it needs shelter, and in spring it needs protection from the first hot rays, which can cause the foliage to burn.
Lighting
When choosing a site for planting, pay attention to the lighting, since the plant does not like direct sunlight. Light shading would be preferable.
Boxwood in winter
Autumn care
The most difficult time for boxwood is winter. The fact is that this plant is not highly frost-resistant. And the dormant root system cannot provide the stems and leaf blades of the shrub, which awaken to life as soon as the sun’s rays hit them. From lack of water and nutrients they begin to dry out. In this regard, to plant such a plant, you should choose a shady place, and it is equally important to properly prepare the shrub for wintering.
Before frost sets in (in November), it is necessary to carry out abundant pre-winter moisture-recharging watering, thanks to which the boxwood can be saturated with moisture, which will be enough for it throughout the winter. Then the tree trunk circle is sprinkled with a layer of mulch (peat or rotted pine needles). Dried leaves should not be used as mulch. The fact is that if the winter period is damp, then the leaves may well begin to rot, and as a result, the bush will develop a fungal disease.
Preparing for winter
After it gets colder outside - minus 10 degrees, you need to cover the boxwood. Before you begin directly covering the plant, standard forms must be prepared by tying them to a support. This will protect the rather fragile stem from heavy snowfall. Then you need to wrap the entire stem with non-woven material. And if you wish, you can use spruce branches by tying a standard with it. If the trunk is mature, then it can only be whitened, and the crown must be tied with fabric. If boxwood is grown as a border or hedge, then it also needs to be completely covered for wintering. For this, burlap or non-woven material is used, which is rolled up in 2-3 layers. To secure the edges of the material, they are simply sprinkled with soil. Before covering the bushes, they must be tied, since a large amount of wet, heavy snow can damage the branches. Cuttings that have taken root, as well as young bushes, must be tied with spruce branches, while the tree trunk circles must be sprinkled with a layer of mulch (conifer needles or peat). The covering material must be removed immediately after the onset of spring, since being in the warmth, the bush begins to rot. It is necessary to remove the cover on a cloudy day and leave 1 layer of lutrasil, burlap or spunbond on the bush, as well as a small amount of spruce branches. This is necessary in order to shade the bush. Boxwood should be gradually accustomed to the bright rays of the spring sun.
Main types and varieties
Not a very large number of species of this plant are cultivated, but there are quite spectacular garden forms of boxwood.
Evergreen boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
In the wild it is found in the Caucasus and the Mediterranean. Most often it grows in the undergrowth of mixed and deciduous forests, and can also be found in heavily shaded places. This tree can reach a height of 15 meters, and there are also shrubby forms. Green, straight, tetrahedral stems are densely leafy. The opposite leaf blades are glossy, bare and have virtually no petioles. Their front side is painted dark green, and the back side is a matte pale green, even slightly yellowish. The elongated elliptical leaves can reach 1.5–3 centimeters in length. Small unisexual light green flowers are part of small capitate inflorescences. The fruit is a small spherical box with valves. They open only after the seeds become ripe. Any part of this plant contains poison. Popular varieties:
- Suffruticosis is an evergreen shrub characterized by slow growth. Vertical shoots reach a height of 100 centimeters. Oppositely located ovate or obovate leaf plates reach 20 millimeters in length. The flowers are small. Used for borders and hedges.
- Blauer Heinz - this low shrub also grows relatively slowly. The stems are more rigid than the previous species, and there are leathery greenish-blue leaf plates. This variety has appeared recently and is used for carpet ornaments whose height is no more than 0.2 meters. It differs from the previous variety in greater frost resistance and compactness.
- Elegance - such a dense shrub has a spherical crown. Straight stems with dense foliage can reach a height of 100 centimeters. The variegated oblong leaf blades have a whitish border. Drought resistant.
Small-leaved boxwood (Buxus microphylla)
It has greater frost resistance compared to the previous type. This Japanese or Korean relative of boxwoods can withstand frost down to minus 30 degrees without shelter. However, in the spring it needs shelter from the sun's rays. Popular varieties:
- Winter Jam is characterized by high frost resistance and rapid growth. Has a dense crown. Used to create small topiary shapes. Pruning does not harm it. It has a height of about 150 centimeters.
- Faulkner is a compact shrub and grows rather slowly. It has a height of up to 150 centimeters. As a rule, bushes are pruned giving it a spherical shape, which is due to the growth of its crown.
Colchian or Caucasian boxwood (Buxus colchica)
A relic of the Tertiary period with slow growth. Of all the European species, it is the most frost-resistant and has small leaves. This species can live up to 600 years, while its height reaches 15–20 meters. At the base, the trunk has a thirty-centimeter diameter.
Balearic boxwood (Buxus balearica)
It is considered the most western species of these plants. Its homeland is southern Spain, the Balearic Islands, Portugal and the Atlas Mountains in northern Morocco. In the Euro-Asian range, this species has the largest leaf blades. So, the width of its leaves is about 3 centimeters, and the length is 4 centimeters. Fast growing and very effective. It is thermophilic and not winter-hardy.
Other species suitable for cultivation in mid-latitudes exist, but they enjoy very little popularity.
Varieties of boxwood and their characteristics
In the genus Boxwood or Buxus (in Latin Buxus, from the Greek word for “dense” - due to the unusually hard wood of the plant) there are 104 species growing in the wild of the Mediterranean, West Indies, Africa and Southeast Asia. In Russia, boxwood acquired such names as “green tree”, “gevan”, “buks”, “shamshit”, “Caucasian palm” and “bukshpan”.
Each representative of the genus of these evergreen trees or shrubs from the Boxwood family (Buxaceae) is interesting in its own way and is most suitable for certain purposes and growing conditions.
IMPORTANT! The slowest growing and compact forms are ideal for creating green sculptures, while the more vigorous and larger ones are ideal for tall hedges, borders and natural landscapes.
Miniature buxuses can even be used to decorate terraces, grow in tubs or pots on window sills or balconies.
Here are the most popular types of boxwood - names, photos of plants:
- Evergreen or common (sempervirens), dignified in Latin Buxus sempervirens,- the most common species, often found in southern cities, the height of which in cultivation reaches 1-5 m, with a dense crown of straight branches covered with small shiny dark green foliage.
The lush crown consists of leaves about 3 cm long. The species is quite winter-hardy; in the middle zone it overwinters under snow cover.
There are many popular varieties of ordinary boxwood, such as: Aureovariegata or otherwise Buxus sempervirens Aureovariegata is a compact form of evergreen tree up to 1.2 m high, with small rounded or notched leaves at the top, decorated with golden spots.
Elegans, Buxus sempervirens Elegans in Latin is a species of boxwood with variegated foliage edged with white, growing up to 1 m in height in the garden.
- Colchian or Caucasian, otherwise called Buxus сolchica , is a boxwood characterized by ovoid leaves with curled edges, which grows slowly and lives 500 years or longer, like many other buxuses. This is a plant listed in the Red Book. Winters successfully only in the south.
- small-leaved, differently Buxus microphylla, - a dwarf variety with narrow leaves up to 2 cm long, which successfully winters only in southern and middle latitudes. The species is interesting because it is naturally very compact and even without pruning it takes the form of a neat shrub. In winter, the leaves have a bronze color.
Small-leaved buxus is the ancestor of such common varieties as:
Curly Locks or Buxus microphylla Curly Locks - a variety with intricately curved stems, very unusual and spectacular. - Balearic, Buxus balearica in Latin , is a form with fairly large bright green leaves up to 5 cm in size and relatively fast growth, can grow up to 3 m in height. It does not survive winter in areas with severe frosts; it is suitable only for areas with mild climates.
Compacta, otherwise in Latin Buxus microphylla Compacta, is a dwarf variety with very small leaves up to 1 cm long, a dense crown structure, about 30 cm high and extremely slow growth.
ATTENTION! All parts of boxwood are poisonous, the foliage being the most poisonous. The plant contains 70 different alkaloids. For dogs, for example, eating even a small amount of boxwood leaves is deadly.
Sometimes the “Caucasian palm” is used as a honey plant, but honey from it has dangerous properties - it causes hallucinations. Therefore, it is not recommended to plant buxus bushes near the apiary.
Many types of boxwood may be of interest to the keen gardener or landscape designer. However, the best variety of tree for your garden is the one that pleases the eye, grows well and winters successfully in your latitudes, and also ideally plays a certain decorative role.
You can learn more about plants that are also in demand in landscape design on our website: Euonymus, Hyacinth, Washingtonia palm, Privet, Myrtle Communis, Cypress Goldcrest Wilma, Azalea, Hibiscus, Wisteria, Brovallia.
