boxwood

[mitchmccabe]

I found this boxwood in the backyard of my new place... It's 5ft tall, or so, and has a base of 4-5 in... The wooden box is just a border, the tree is growing in the ground... There are some other boxwood with smaller trunks too (1-2 in)..

I would appreciate any comments on collecting and maybe future styling possibilities...

boxwood-1.jpg (55.16 KiB) Viewed 2729 times

boxwood-2.jpg (77.1 KiB) Viewed 2729 times

[BillsBayou]

Here's what I would do in New Orleans (and I have already done)

Wait until February to pull the tree from the ground.

In the mean time, I would begin trimming about 1/3 of the foliage to encourage budding back. I'd also cut all the terminals on all the branches.

Remember that with boxwoods, you need to leave leaves on the branch you are trimming. You cannot cut past the last green on the branch or the branch will die.

That's my beginning work in New Orleans. If you get snow in the winter, wait until March to do anything.

As for styling, old boxwoods look best in my opinion in a live oak style.

While you wait to dig this tree, look for a good large growing container. I see a wood frame around the roots. The roots actually go further out than that. I recommend getting something about 2-1/2 feet across from a nursery. That tree can stay in the nursery pot for a year or so depending on how much work it needs and how much you want to force it to bud back.

[lewisjk]

While it is in the ground would be a good time to cut off some of that cat's cradle of branches angling off from the base. You should leave three or four "trunks" or branches down there to form the base of the tree -- especially if you are going for a live oak style which, as bill says, is quite successful with boxwoods. Choose branches with some movement to them. Healing will be a bit faster while it is in the ground.

That's how I've grown mine for the past 10 years now.

[mbarratt]

Hi guys , my names matt and I'm new here ! Just wanted to ask a couple of questions as I have recently acquired a buxus sempervirens piece of raw material . Are there any specific care guides for this species available ? I ask because the growth on my tree is pretty long , but I've been warned against pruning at certain times . Also I can't find a decent guide to promoting ramification in this species - as it has a very specific leaf growth pattern I figured I needed to look at some pretty specific information !

Any help would be greatly appreciated on pinching and pruning the boxwood ! Many thanks

Oh , and I'm from the uk

[plantmanky]

Hi guys , my names matt and I'm new here ! Just wanted to ask a couple of questions as I have recently acquired a buxus sempervirens piece of raw material . Are there any specific care guides for this species available ? I ask because the growth on my tree is pretty long , but I've been warned against pruning at certain times . Also I can't find a decent guide to promoting ramification in this species - as it has a very specific leaf growth pattern I figured I needed to look at some pretty specific information !

Any help would be greatly appreciated on pinching and pruning the boxwood ! Many thanks

Oh , and I'm from the uk

Matt,

First of all, Welcome to ABS!!!! On your question regarding English Boxwood. They are a great species to work with for bonsai and respond quite well to pruning. Hard pruning of large branches to form the structure of your bonsai can be done anytime during the growing season and the tree should bud back fully and rapaidly. For ramification development you'll be working with the smaller branches which bud back equally well so don't be afraid to do any cutting to achieve your design goals. Just as a note, I would not do this kind of branch cutting, either large or small ,during the fall and winter months when the tree is dormant. There is a short but good article about working on boxwood in our articles section under the trash to treasure heading by Cheryl Manning that would be worthwhile to read. Another suggestion would be to find a local bonsai club as I'm sure you will find some hands-on people to give you good local advise. I'm not sure where your are in the UK but this weekend is the Best Of British Bonsai 2011show in Birmingham at the Botanical Gardens and I know you'll find someone there to give you as much help as you like. There is a listing for that show in our events calander with all the details.

Randy

[mbarratt]

Hi again - and thanks for the welcome !! I wanted to attend the Birmingham show thus weekend but family commitments won't allow sadly . But there's monthly events at the Birmingham gardens so I'll try and get over there soon ! I appreciate the advice , and I'm ready to start chopping , but I have one concern . This buxus sempervirens has been well established and is budding healthily , but I got the tree from Graham potter at kaizen bonsai , and he has advised me never to prune back hard until September as doing it earlier will severely weaken the tree . Is there reason and logic behind this as I don't doubt graham but I'm inundated with conflicting information and it's confusing as hell !!
Many thanks !

[plantmanky]

Hi again - and thanks for the welcome !! I wanted to attend the Birmingham show thus weekend but family commitments won't allow sadly . But there's monthly events at the Birmingham gardens so I'll try and get over there soon ! I appreciate the advice , and I'm ready to start chopping , but I have one concern . This buxus sempervirens has been well established and is budding healthily , but I got the tree from Graham potter at kaizen bonsai , and he has advised me never to prune back hard until September as doing it earlier will severely weaken the tree . Is there reason and logic behind this as I don't doubt graham but I'm inundated with conflicting information and it's confusing as hell !!
Many thanks !

Matt,

Ah, I understand your confusion, I think!!!! First off, I would trust Graham's advise not knowing the details and history of your particular tree. Let me explain a little. If your tree was recently dug out of the ground and put into a container, it would make sense not to do any significant prunning on the tree untill it's root system was established in the container, and that may take until September. If that's not the case, there may be some other reason in your particular area that experienced bonsai folks may know that is not known to others not in the area. However, generally hard cutting boxwood should be done during the growing season, early enough for new growth to appear and harden off prior to the onset of fall and the winter season,which makes me also wonder about Graham's instuctions. If I were you, it's early enough in the season to wait until you've had a chance to talk to other bonsai folks in your local area and see what their espience on the subject is and take it from there.

Randy

[mbarratt]

Well I've spoken to a few guys over here , and my buxus is about to get the chop so I'll post pics up as soon as it's had a trim . Any style advice would be appreciated !!