Boxwood (Buxus) is an evergreen shrub or tree from the Boxaceae family, characterized by slow growth and common in nature in East Asia, the Mediterranean and the West Indies. This ancient culture is grown in tubs, in the garden in the open field, as a decoration for a lawn or as a hedge, as a border and as a decorative ornament on a personal plot in the form of figures of people, animals and various objects formed during trimming. At home, boxwood can be grown as a dwarf tree in a small flower container. In Moscow and the Moscow region, its cultivation and care is no different from other regions. The only thing you need to pay attention to due to the possibility of severe frosts is the preparation of the boxwood for winter.
Description of the boxwood plant
The plant is distinguished by dense leathery rounded leaves, inflorescences of small fragrant flowers and fruit-capsules with black shiny seeds. Although the culture is a melliferous plant, boxwood honey is not eaten due to the high toxicity of all its parts.
Boxwood tolerates pruning well, and its beautiful crown of shiny leaves is very popular with landscape designers who often use the shrub for landscaping and decorating various land plots. The main features of the plant are its high decorativeness, shade tolerance and unpretentious disposition.
In nature, there are almost 100 different species of this evergreen culture, and as a garden plant, the most attractive are the boxwood Evergreen, Small-leaved, Caucasian, Balearic. Popular varieties are Winter Jam, Faulkner, Elegance, Suffrutikosa, Blauer Heinz. All species and varieties differ in shape, size, resistance to frost and drought, leaf color, growth rate and longevity, compactness and main purpose, level of decorativeness.
Planting boxwood
When to plant boxwood
Each gardener chooses the planting time for box trees based on their experience. It can be any season other than winter. It is believed that flowering crops are more favorably planted in the autumn from about September fifteenth to October tenth. Before the onset of severe frosts, at least a month should remain, during which the boxwood will have time to form the root system and strengthen the immune system.
The soil in the selected area can be clayey, moist, with good water permeability and a little lime content, and the site itself should be located in the shade or partial shade, without bright direct sunlight. The burning rays of the sun leave burns on the leaves of plants.
How to plant boxwood correctly
Boxwood seedlings purchased in containers must be watered abundantly a day before planting. So the root part is easier to pull out of the container along with a lump of earth.If possible, it is recommended to soak the root part without soil for a day.
The size of the planting pit depends on the size of the roots with the earthy clod. It should be about 2-3 times wider and deeper. The bottom of the pit must be filled with a three-centimeter layer of drainage (for example, perlite), and the entire pit is filled with a soil mixture of equal parts of earth and perlite.
The seedling is placed in a pit, all the roots are straightened and gradually covered with the prepared substrate, and then lightly tamped. It is important that, when planting, no air cavities remain in the hole, and the trunk of the plant is located strictly in an upright position. After that, the seedlings are immediately watered abundantly. Irrigation water can be rain-settled. Each plant will need approximately 2.5-3 buckets of water.
After the earth settles in the planting pit, it is necessary to add the soil mixture to the brim without compaction. It is recommended to mark the boundaries of the near-trunk circle with a small earthen mound around the circumference, which will restrain irrigation water from spreading. The surface of the trunk circle must be covered with a two-centimeter layer of perlite.
Caring for boxwood in the open field
Unpretentious boxwood does not require much attention and does not cause a lot of trouble.
Watering
The first watering after planting is carried out in seven days, provided there is no rain during this period, or seven days after heavy rainfall. In moderate weather in the summer months, it is necessary to water the seedlings regularly with a volume of about ten liters of water when the bush grows up to one meter. In dry and very hot seasons, watering is carried out with the same frequency, but in large quantities. Water should only enter the trunk circle. A good time for watering is early morning or after sunset.
The soil
After each watering, it is recommended to loosen the soil and pull out weeds, and with the establishment of stable warm weather (around the end of May), the trunk circle must be covered with a mulch layer of peat. The thickness of the mulch should not exceed 8 cm and should be in contact with parts of the plant.
Fertilization
Boxwood requires regular nutritious mineral or organic feeding. The first time fertilization can be applied only after the plant has rooted (after about a month), but this applies to seedlings planted in spring. From May to September, fertilizers with a nitrogen content can be applied, and in the fall, top dressing should contain potassium and phosphorus. Complex fertilizers can be applied together with irrigation water and during the autumn digging of the site.
Transfer
A good time for replanting plants is spring. For the entire spring-summer period, boxwood will have time to adapt to a new place, form its root system and prepare well for winter temperatures. When transplanting an adult culture with an earthy clod, the procedure will take place with minimal disturbance to the plant.
Pruning
Formative and corrective pruning is recommended to be done regularly once a month. The first haircut is carried out in the second half of April or the first half of May. The plant tolerates this procedure easily, but additional nutrients and more frequent watering are required to support the boxwood after shearing. Pruning transforms trees into various geometric shapes. Balls, cones or cubes look great on the site, but require timely adjustments. Young growths are subject to pruning, which affect the basic shape of the crown of plants.
Boxwood in winter
To saturate the soil with moisture for a long winter period, it is recommended to carry out abundant watering in the first week of November and apply a layer of mulch to the trunk circle of peat or needles. Spruce branches, burlap, non-woven material in several layers, lutrasil or spunbond are used as a shelter for boxwood. To preserve the integrity of the branches, it is recommended to tie or tie them to a support.
Reproduction of boxwood
Seed propagation
The germination capacity of boxwood seeds is maintained for a very short time, so this method of propagation is not often used.
Freshly harvested seeds must be soaked in a warm aqueous solution with a growth stimulant (for example, "Epin" or "Zircon") for twenty-four hours, after which the liquid is drained, and the seeds are laid out on a damp cloth and covered with the same damp cloth. The fabric should always be slightly damp for 20-30 days. This time is necessary for the appearance of white shoots. Sprouted seeds are planted sprouts downwards in a soil mixture of equal parts of sand and peat and covered with polyethylene or glass. Before emergence, the container should be in a warm room in a semi-shaded place. With the advent of seedlings, the film is removed, regular watering and feeding are carried out, and in early May they are transferred to open ground.
Propagation by cuttings
Prepared cuttings are also soaked for a day in a solution with a growth stimulant, after which they are planted in a substrate of compost, leaf earth and sand in equal proportions and covered with a large plastic bottle with a cut bottom. Care consists in moisturizing and ventilating. The roots will form in 1-2 months. For the winter, cuttings are covered with fallen leaves or spruce branches.
Reproduction by layering
In the spring, the lower shoots are pinned to the ground and sprinkled. Watering and feeding are carried out regularly until autumn. After rooting, the layers are separated and transplanted.
Diseases and pests
Possible pests of boxwood are boxwood gall midge, spider mite, felt.
With the arrival of warm summer weather, gall midge lays a large number of eggs on leaves and shoots, from which larvae later hatch, and then adult insects are formed. The presence of pests is noticeable by mass drying and leaf fall.
Withered shoots and swellings that appear on the leaf plates signal the presence of felt. A spider mite, an uninvited guest, usually appears on a plant in severe drought and at high air temperatures.
All possible pests can be destroyed by spraying with special chemicals. For example, "Tagore", "Fufanon", "Karbofos", "Aktara". Sometimes one treatment is enough, but if necessary, you can repeat it after another 10 days.
Possible diseases are shoot necrosis and cancer. Numerous spots appear on the leaves, and the ends of the shoots begin to die off. To get rid of necrosis, the plant is repeatedly treated with fungicides. It is recommended to completely remove areas of a tree or shrub affected by cancer, and treat the cut sites with Fundazol.
Types and varieties of boxwood
Boxwood evergreen (Buxus sempervirens) - most common in the Mediterranean and the Caucasus, where it prefers to grow in deciduous and mixed forests. The tree reaches a height of up to 15 m; the shrub form of this species is very rare. Shoots are green straight, tetrahedral. Leaves are opposite, almost without petioles, smooth, shiny, dark green on the upper side and dull light green and even yellowish on the bottom. The shape of the leaves is elongated-elliptical, the length reaches 1.5-3 cm. Small green flowers are collected in small capitate inflorescences. The fruit is a small spherical capsule with valves that open when the seeds ripen. All parts of the evergreen boxwood are poisonous. Popular varieties are Suffrutikosa, Blauer Heinz, Elegance.
Small-leaved boxwood (Buxus microphylla) - in contrast to boxwood evergreen, this species is winter-hardy. This is a Korean or Japanese descendant of boxwood, which can withstand frosts up to 30 degrees in winter without shelter, while it needs shelter from the bright spring sun. Popular varieties are Winter Jam and Faulkner.
Boxwood Colchis, or Caucasian (Buxus colchica) - This species is slow-growing, is the smallest and most winter-hardy boxwood of all European species. Lives up to 600 years, reaching a height of 15-20 m, the diameter of the trunk at the base is about 30 cm.
Balearic boxwood (Buxus balearica) - this species grows in the Balearic Islands, southern Spain, Portugal and the Atlas Mountains, in northern Morocco. This is the largest-leaved species: the leaves of the Balearic boxwood reach a length of 4 cm and a width of 3 cm. A fast-growing plant with extremely high decorative qualities, but, unfortunately, it is not at all winter-hardy.
