Buxus, aka boxwood, is a genus of evergreen plants. The name “buxus” was borrowed by the Greeks in ancient times from an unknown language. Now the plant is better known as “boxwood”. The genus is represented by shrubs and trees with the distinctive feature – slow development. They tolerate pruning well, so they are very picturesque. Serve as hedges, borders and can be a decoration for lawns and flowerbeds.
Botanical features
Buxus, which is known as the oldest ornamental crop, has a very beautiful crown. It is formed by graceful shoots covered with suprotectively arranged leathery leafy plates. They are almost round or elliptical in shape.
In flowering the crown is covered with small inflorescences, consisting of fragrant flowers. Boxwood attracts bees. But it can not be used as a honey plant, because all of its organs are poisonous. The fruit is a seed box. After reaching biological ripeness, it cracks and the shiny black seeds scatter in different directions.
For your information!Do not use boxwood honey in cooking.
Planting
Boxwood seedlings are planted throughout the season. In spring and summer use seedlings with a closed root system. Optimal timing occurs in the first half of autumn. Focus on the climatic characteristics of the region, counting a month from the onset of cold weather. This time is enough for the rooting of the plant to successfully overwinter in the open ground.Approximate autumn terms:
In southern areas you can plant boxwood in October;
In the middle belt work is carried out in early September.
Location and soil requirements
For boxwoods allocate a place in the shady part of the garden, because the sun’s rays burn the delicate foliage of buxus. In our opinion, an excellent option – openwork shade, which gives the crowns of tall trees. The soil on the site should be clay, but moisture-intensive and well water permeable. Boxwood does not like acidic soil. If the soil is acidic when preparing the site it is limeed. To increase the aeration qualities, compost is introduced under the digging. Organic kind of fertilizer not only loosens the structure of the soil, but also increases fertility.
Planting technology
When planting material with a closed root system, before planting it is watered a day. This method allows you to remove the seedling without destroying the root ball. In our opinion, it is better to make sure the state of the roots. Then, after a day, the seedling is removed from the container, carefully remove the soil from the roots and place them in water for another 1 day.
The planting process itself is not complicated. Sequence of steps:
On the plot dig a planting hole, the depth and width of which should be 3 times greater than the parameters of the planting soil.
At the bottom form a layer of perlite. The thickness is 2-3 cm. The layer will have a drainage function.
Mix the topsoil with perlite in the ratio of 1:1.
The planting material is lowered into the hole, the roots are carefully straightened out.
Cover them with the substrate, which is slightly tamped, so that there is no air pockets around them.
The plant is watered by making a groove around the perimeter of the root circle. This way the water will not drip. Norm of consumption for a 30 cm tall specimen – 3 l. Use tempered water, not cold.
When the soil sits, top up a little more, but it has not compacted.
To preserve the loose structure, prevent rapid evaporation of moisture and weed growth, the soil in the root circle is covered with a layer of mulch.
Care of Boxwood
The cleanliness of the planting circle is monitored in the future. If necessary, mulch is replaced with fresh. Water and feed regularly. Since boxwood has a slow growth, in our opinion, it is important to consider it in the calculation of nutrients required by the culture in the open ground.
Watering
After planting the first irrigation after a week if there is no rainfall. The application rate for a 1 m tall specimen is 10 liters of water. Pour water carefully under the root, avoiding its contact with the shoots. The watering liquid should be mild without any chlorine additives. To prevent moisture stagnation in the clay soil, even in periods of drought, the interval between water treatments should not be reduced. Increasing the amount of water is sufficient.
After moistening, when the soil has shaken out, loosen it. At the same time remove weeds. Loosening and weeding are mandatory procedures in the absence of mulch. The latter allows you to increase the interval between agricultural activities.
Fertilizing
Feeding boxwood begin only after it takes root. In the spring, nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied. In summer you can use the complex compositions that contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. But in the autumn nitrogen is not fed boxwood. It stimulates the development of the green mass, so that the plant goes unprepared for the winter. It is better to limit the application of potassium. In our opinion, it is effective to alternate organic fertilizers with mineral agrotuks to achieve a balance of macro- and microelements in the soil.
Repotting
In rearrangement of the site may require replanting the buxus. It’s better to do the procedure in spring. Mature specimens are less tolerant of transplanting. To minimize stress, the culture is transplanted with a lump of old soil. The procedure is carried out in the same sequence as the initial planting. If you follow all the rules, boxwood quickly takes root and does not lose its decorativeness even for a short time.
Pruning
Boxwood is very well tolerant of mowing which encourages the shoots to branch out. The optimal time for the procedure is April and early May. Boxwood crowns are most often shaped according to the laws of geometry. The most popular forms – cube, cone and ball.
In our opinion, you can grow buxus in the form of a bough tree, leaving it only the central, the strongest shoot, and cutting out by the root all the rest. After the formation of the trunk, the crown is given a ball shape. Because the boxwood shoots grow slowly, it is enough to form the crown once, and then you only have to watch for its neat and correct appearance. When pruning to maintain the beauty of the plant, usually only the young shoots are cut. Old branches are touched only for cardinal pruning, when the bush or tree has lost its shape. In our opinion, the optimal frequency for corrective mowing is monthly. After the procedure, it is important not to forget to water and feed the plant, which begins to actively build up new greenery.
Protection against disease and pests
Buccus has good immunity. With proper care, a healthy plant is tolerant of many diseases. The pest on the shoots is noted more often, but also only if the rules of cultivation are not followed.Dangerous enemies:
Boxwood midge,. It lays eggs in early summer on young leaves at the shoot tips. Hatching larvae overwinter in the leaves and feed on them at the same time. In spring they pupate and adults (imago) appear in May and make clutches again. With mass infestation, the pest should be fought with the insecticides “Aktara”, “Carbophos”, “Fufanon”. If the colonies are numerous, spraying is repeated at intervals of 10 days.
Quiltskin.Its appearance is indicated by swollen leaves and withering shoots. To control the use of similar preparations.
Spider mite.Sucking pest, feeding on the sap of shoots. With mass infestation, the bush loses decorativeness: the leaves become yellow and fall off. The already mentioned preparations will help to get rid of the mite.
Of the diseases, buxus suffers from shoot necrosis, accompanied by the dying off of the ends of branches and spots on the leaves. Copper-containing preparations are used to combat the disease. More than one treatment is required for an intensive level of development. Effective remedies: Bordeaux mixture, “HOM. If the shoots are affected by cancer, all diseased organs should be cut out to healthy wood, and the wounds should be treated with the drug “Fundazole”.
Winter shelter
Buxus is an evergreen plant. Its habitat is concentrated in warm climates. In temperate latitudes boxwood needs to be covered. Begin after temperatures have dropped to -10°C. If the plant is a bastard, it has to be tied up to a pole beforehand, so that the central pole is not broken by heavy snowfall. Then the bough is wrapped with non-woven material or wrapped with lapnik. In mature specimens, the trunks can be whitewashed, then only the crown of the ornamental culture will need to be covered with a cloth.
Curbs or hedges also need to be covered – they are completely covered with two or three layers of covering material. In our opinion, it is possible to use both non-woven material and burlap. Boxwood is tied up in advance, so that tender shoots would not break under the wet snow, not withstanding the weight of the cover. The covering material is fixed by covering the edges with soil. The acclimatized seedlings and young specimens are tied with lapniks and covered with a layer of mulch in the root zone. Peat is used as a mulching material.
As soon as the spring warmth arrives, the cover is removed, otherwise there is a high risk of the plant’s roots drying out. But you can not do it all at once, because the spring sun can damage the shoots. When removing the covering material, only one layer is left. After acclimatization, boxwoods are also removed.
Buxus is a highly decorative plant. But it is also valued for its undemanding nature. The combination of these qualities makes the culture very popular among landscapers.
