Boxwood is evergreen native to the Mediterranean. This beautiful plant is unpretentious, it can be grown in the country in a temperate climate. The basic rules of care are simple, having learned about them, even a novice summer resident will be able to decorate his site with boxwood hedges or garden figures.
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Box evergreen: varieties, types and characteristics
Of the 30 types of boxwood in decorative gardening, only one was widespread - boxwood is evergreen, or Caucasian palm. In the warm climate of the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia, this tree can live up to 15 meters in height for more than 500 years. The description of a plant grown in a temperate climate of mid-latitudes suggests that boxwood is a shrub no more than 3-4 meters high.
Popular varieties:
- "Safrutikosa" - a slowly growing green bush, up to 1 m high;
- "Elegantisima" - sheet plates with a white border;
- "Faulkner" - a bush with fine foliage, grows up to 3 meters in height;
- "Rotundifolia" is a fast-growing variety, plants can reach 4 m, the leaves are small, greenish-blue;
- “Auremaginata” - sheet plates with a yellow border;
- "Blauer Heinz" - compact, slow-growing bush, high frost resistance;
- "Handsworthins" - leaves are slightly corrugated, bushes are tall, up to 3 m;
- "Angastifolia" - leaves are long and narrow, with a bluish bloom.
Colchis boxwood is also grown in the gardens, the height of which in the middle lane does not exceed 0.6 m.
Planting a Caucasian palm tree in the open ground
Boxwood can be planted on any soil, it is completely undemanding to growing conditions. If you place the bush in nutrient soil, it grows quickly, but the crown is formed loose, and you need to do shoot cutting more often, almost monthly.
In poor soil, boxwood grows slowly. He has a dense crown. He will keep the sheared form that she is given in the spring much longer - all season.
If there is no time for thorough care and cutting of the bush, it is not necessary to add fertilizer to the planting pit, you can just plant a seedling in a small hole, spreading its roots and watering it well.
Landing time
In nurseries, boxwood is sold with a closed root system. Such a plant can be planted at any time - the entire warm season, from spring to autumn. But with autumn planting should remain at least a month before frost.
In central Russia, it is best to plant boxwood in October.
During summer planting, bushes should be shaded with non-woven covering material from sunlight for 2 weeks, until they take root. Watering young plants on hot summer days is desirable daily.
Site and soil preparation
The site is prepared in advance, released from weeds and dug. For varieties with variegated or yellow leaves, choose a sunny spot in the garden. The remaining varieties are shade tolerant.
A hole for boxwood is dug 15 to 20 cm deeper and wider than the dimensions of the container in which it is planted. The empty space will be filled with a nutrient mixture consisting of rotted compost, turf land and sand.
How to plant
The container plant is well watered the day before the transplant, so that when it is removed from the pot, the earthen lump does not collapse. If the plant has a bare root system, it is planted immediately after purchase. The roots during planting are spread out, filling them with soil, which is compacted from above so that there is no air space. At the end, the seedling is abundantly watered to nourish it with water.
Boxwoods are drought-resistant, but abundant watering allows the soil to completely settle and surround the roots so that the seedling is guaranteed to take root. After watering, it is advisable to mulch the soil with peat, compost or wood chips. This will stop weed growth, and moisture will be retained in the soil longer.
Caring for the evergreen boxwood in the open ground
Boxwood is a very hardy plant. In the process of growing, he is not afraid of periodic waterlogging of the soil and drought.
The shrub is undemanding to temperature changes, frost-resistant, it feels good even in shaded places. It perfectly tolerates forming pruning and is easily propagated by cuttings. Frequent top dressing during the growing season does not require.
How to water?
Boxwood tolerates drought, but young seedlings in the first year require regular watering. In conditions of intense summer heat, this plant loves not just watering, but sprinkling of the crown.
Boxwood is watered by rain early in the morning or in the evening, putting on a special nozzle on the hose. This allows you to wash off the dust from the leaves, accelerates the development of the crown.
Fertilizing and fertilizing the soil
Regular pruning is always accompanied by abundant watering and top dressing - the plant must have the strength to build up a new green mass.
In shops and garden centers there are special fertilizers for boxwood, which contain nutrients in the right proportion.
In addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, they have other micro and macro elements necessary for this shrub. From the second half of summer nitrogen should not be in the fertilizer, only phosphorus and potassium, which contribute to a good wintering of the plant.
Cropping and shaping the crown
An important measure for the care of boxwood is pruning, without it the bush looks untidy. The more often you cut, the better for the plant. This is necessary in order to give the plant the desired shape. Usually sheared with an interval of 4 weeks. The vegetative ends of the shoots are cut off, the sleeping buds wake up, and the crown becomes denser.A brick is easily lying on a well-formed boxwood bush, the crown is so thick that it can easily support its weight.
The start time of the forming crop depends on the climate. In central Russia, the first haircut is carried out in the second half of April, when the growing season has already begun. In harsher climates, you need to start cutting in May.
In autumn and spring, when the plant is asleep, pruning is pointless because nothing grows.
- You need to cut it gently, cutting off the tips of the branches to form new shoots.
- It is advisable not to touch the lignified, skeletal branches - this can ruin the plant. Holes form in the crown that will overgrow for a long time. Boxwood is a slowly growing plant, so the forming haircuts need to be done very carefully.
- Novice summer residents can make patterns of wire that will help give the boxwood crown the desired shape.
Shrub transplant
Transplanting an evergreen shrub to a new place is best in spring. Boxwood loves neutral ground. If clay is on the site, you can dig a larger landing hole and fill it with a soil mixture of sand, humus, sod land and crushed charcoal.
At the bottom of the landing pit, you can put a drainage layer of expanded clay, broken brick or gravel, pour prepared soil on top, pour and boxwood.
Boxwood shelter for the winter
The most crucial period in the life of boxwood is winter. It is advisable to insulate young seedlings for the first two years. Adult heat-loving varieties also need shelter.
The root system of the shrub in the autumn is mulched with a thick layer of humus or sawdust so that it does not freeze, the branches are tied with a covering non-woven material, for example, agrofibre.
When the snow begins to melt in the spring, it is immediately removed from under the boxwood so that the dark soil is warmed up by the sun, and the root system starts to work faster. Then the vital juices needed by the plant after winter will go to the upper shoots and leaves.
Shrub propagation methods
Boxwood does not happen much at the dacha, so it is good to be able to reproduce it yourself. It is very easy to do. During the harvesting of cuttings, it is advisable to wear work gloves, because all parts of the plant are poisonous.
- For a stalk, a year-old shoot with a heel is torn off on a boxwood bush so that there remains a piece of wood last year.
- The lower leaves are torn off, and the stalk is stuck in a light, fertile substrate (a mixture of turf ground with sand in equal amounts).
- The shank is covered with a transparent glass or plastic bottle, sprayed regularly. Boxwood takes root very quickly.
Pests and boxwood diseases
There is one nuance of care, without knowing which, you can lose even an adult plant. In winter, the soil freezes, the root system of the plant does not work, but the upper evergreen part lives all year round. When winter thaws begin, the temperature rises, the sun bakes, but the roots are still sleeping.
The leaves begin to intensively evaporate moisture, and water does not come from the roots. In such cases, the plant burns, its appearance deteriorates, and with severe burns, it can die.
To prevent this from happening, boxwood must be shaded with covering material during the thaw days, even burlap is suitable for this. Wrap loosely so that the plant breathes.
When spring warming begins, the shelter must be removed so that the plant does not undermine. Do not use shading film.
Boxwood susceptible to various fungal diseases and the invasion of various pests. Signs of the disease are a change in the color of the leaves, the appearance of spots on them. To combat various fungal infections, the plant is treated with fungicides.
The most common pest is boxwood gall midge. It lays testicles on the leaves, larvae hatch from them, penetrate deep into the leaf plate, forming swelling. Then the leaves dry and fall. The diseased boxwood is treated with an insecticide, the damaged leaves are cut off, the fallen leaves are removed and burned.
Landscape design
Boxwood adorns the cottage plot remarkably, garden figures, a lively low fence, borders can be made from it. The advantage of the plant is a dense crown, thanks to which you can create beautiful shapes.
Boxwood tolerates pruning well, is unpretentious in leaving, it can be cut in the most incredible way, creating real living sculptures. Very beautiful varieties with yellow leaves. Tall varieties are planted as hedges, and with the help of stunted they make flower beds and garden paths.
