Contents
Planting and caring for boxwood is an interesting question for those who like to grow unusual plants on their own plot. Evergreen boxwood is able to become a decoration of the garden, so it is useful to study the photo of the boxwood shrub and care for it.
Conditions for growing boxwood
Boxwood is a very beautiful evergreen shrub with slow growth that can decorate any space. Boxwood grows throughout the world, both wild and cultivated, but it is most often seen in warm regions. On the territory of Our Country, boxwood is distributed in the Caucasus and Sochi, in the world it grows mainly in tropical zones.
This is due to the fact that the shrub is characterized by increased thermophilicity. In general, boxwood is quite unpretentious, but some conditions must be observed when growing it.
- The plant does not grow well in poor soils. For boxwood, it is necessary to create a nutritious neutral or slightly acidic soil with a high lime content, otherwise the shrub will develop poorly and will not be able to achieve maximum decorativeness.
- The shrub does not tolerate direct sunlight. For healthy development, he definitely needs shading, especially in the cold season, since the bright winter sun is very dangerous for the shrub.
- The plant is thermophilic, it is with this that the difficulties of breeding in the middle lane are connected. Planting and caring for evergreen boxwood can be carried out not only in the Moscow region, but even in the Urals and Siberia, but you need to monitor the plant very carefully, otherwise the shrub will die from extreme cold.
You can decorate with an evergreen almost any area, even in the northern regions of the country. However, gardeners need to remember that we are talking about growing a southern plant that has special requirements for conditions.
When to plant boxwood in open ground
Evergreen boxwood belongs to plants with very early flowering – small flowers appear on its branches in early March. Therefore, for the most part, planting boxwood in the fall is practiced in the middle lane; seedlings are placed in open ground in mid-September or early October, about a month before the first frost.
About 4 weeks are required for the boxwood root system to develop in a new place in the open field. After that, with proper care, the shrub calmly endures the winter and pleases with flowering with the onset of spring.
How to plant boxwood
Its further growth and decorativeness largely depend on the correct planting of the shrub. When planting a plant in the ground, it is necessary to take into account the requirements of the shrub for soil, lighting and proximity to other horticultural crops.
Where to plant boxwood
The boxwood shrub is a heat-loving plant, but it does not tolerate direct sun well. It is recommended to choose a shaded or at least slightly shaded area for a shrub so that the sun’s rays do not injure the leaves of the plant.
Boxwood feels good in the shade of buildings and fences, not far from taller plants that provide shade for it. It is important to choose a place so that maximum shading is provided in the winter, when the sun is especially bright and dangerous to the health of the shrub.
What kind of soil does boxwood like
The evergreen shrub makes not very high demands on the saturation of the soil with nutrients. However, a number of conditions are still recommended to be observed.
- Loamy or sandy soils with a moderate level of moisture are ideal for the plant. But the plant does not tolerate heavy soils with stagnant moisture.
- The acidity of the soil for boxwood should be neutral or slightly acidic; on too acidic soils, the plant develops poorly. It is useful to add hydrated lime or mature compost to the soil at the planting site of the shrub, they will improve the composition of the earth and help create optimal conditions for the evergreen.
- The shrub does not like waterlogging. It should be planted in a site near which surface groundwater does not pass.
- The soil at the planting site should be well-drained and aerated. If the soil does not meet these requirements, it can be improved, artificial drainage can be organized using perlite, broken brick or stone. It is also useful to loosen the ground under the bush trunk more often.
The shrub belongs to the category of centenarians and can grow in one place for tens and hundreds of years. Therefore, the choice of site and soil for boxwood should be taken very carefully so that subsequently the grown shrub does not have to be transferred to another place.
At what distance to plant boxwood
Usually, an evergreen shrub is not planted alone, but in groups – in the form of a hedge, a low border or a carpet composition. In order for individual plants to develop freely and not interfere with each other, it is necessary to observe the distance between the bushes, it must be at least 30 cm.
How to plant boxwood
The algorithm for planting a shrub is quite simple, but when preparing, you need to follow certain rules.
- The planting hole for the shrub is prepared in advance. If the soil on the site is not suitable for growing boxwood, it must first be improved, dug up and mixed with perlite in equal proportions.
- The depth and width of the planting hole should be approximately three times the size of the roots of the seedling along with the earthen clod.
- At the bottom of the dug hole, a small layer of perlite is poured – about 2-3 cm. The earth mixed with perlite is poured into the hole to half.
- The day before planting in the ground, the shrub seedling must be moistened. To do this, it can be removed from the container, cleaned from the ground and placed in water, or properly watered directly in the container so that the ground around the root system is saturated with moisture.
Directly planting an evergreen shrub looks like this:
- a boxwood seedling is lowered into a hole, half covered with earth, with or without an earthen clod, carefully straightening the roots of the plant;
- holding the boxwood, the planting pit is covered to the top with earth mixed with perlite, the soil must be poured gradually, making sure that there are no voids in the hole;
- after the hole is filled to the top, the soil near the boxwood trunk is lightly tamped and watered properly, at least 3 liters of water must be added.
After watering, the soil near the trunk of the shrub will settle a little, and then you will need to pour a little more substrate into the resulting hole. It is not necessary to compact the soil this time. Wet ground can be sprinkled with a small layer of perlite, it will improve the absorption of water and prevent its premature evaporation.
What to plant next to boxwood
The shrub looks especially impressive in group plantings, so it is often used to create artistic compositions. Good neighbors for boxwood are flowering shrubs, namely:
- lilac and jasmine;
- cistus and spray roses;
- geykhera and barberry;
- other crops with similar requirements for growing conditions.
The deep hue of the shrub works best with the red, white, yellow and pink flowers of the plants, while the evergreen boxwood creates a pleasing contrast.
If the shrub is planted near an artificial or natural reservoir, then it can be combined with marigold, calamus, lily plants. The shrub will also successfully set off their flowering, and after leaf fall it will allow you to preserve the decorativeness and attractiveness of the coastal zone.
How to care for boxwood
After planting, the shrub must be provided with quality care. In general, caring for boxwood in the garden does not cause any particular problems for gardeners; increased attention to the plant needs to be paid only with the onset of autumn, in preparation for the winter cold.
Watering boxwood
Ornamental shrub needs additional watering, but remains very sensitive to waterlogging. It is important to prevent stagnation of moisture – in wet weather with heavy rains, it is not necessary to water the bush, it will have enough natural precipitation.
For the first time, boxwood is watered immediately after planting. If a week after this it does not rain, watering must be done again – for a meter-long seedling, about 10 liters of water must be added. It is necessary to water the shrub carefully, making sure that the water does not spread too widely over the ground, it must fall under the trunk of the shrub and be deeply absorbed, going to its roots.
In the future, the bush is watered as the soil dries up, it is necessary to carefully monitor the soil at the roots of boxwood in dry weather. In the hottest months, it is recommended to water the plant once a week. If the soil dries quickly, you can increase the amount of water when watering, but you should not increase the frequency. Since the roots of boxwood are quite long, it can take moisture from the deep layers of the soil for a long time, while excessively frequent watering leads to waterlogging of the soil.
You need to water the shrub in the morning, before the bright sun comes to the site, or after sunset. From time to time, it is recommended to carefully spray the shrub with water from above in order to wash dust and dirt from the leaves of the plant.
Additional fertilizing
Planting and caring for buxus arborescence, or boxwood, includes top dressing, it ensures the rapid and healthy growth of an evergreen shrub. As a rule, fertilizers are applied to the soil for the first time only a month after planting, after the seedling has taken root properly. If wood ash or compost was added to the planting pit during the autumn planting, top dressing can be completely postponed until spring – before the boxwood will not need additional nutrients.
In the future, you need to feed the bush several times a season. In the spring, it is useful to add nitrogenous fertilizers to the soil, which will contribute to the growth of the green mass of the plant. In autumn, during the last loosening of the soil, the shrub is fed with potassium and phosphorus, but nitrogen is not required, it can provoke untimely vegetative processes.
Mulching and loosening
Stagnation of moisture is detrimental to evergreen boxwood, so loosening and mulching the soil for it must be carried out without fail. It is customary to loosen the earth immediately after watering – this will allow the water to be better absorbed and at the same time saturate the soil with oxygen.
Mulching of boxwood is carried out in the spring at the beginning of May. After the soil warms up qualitatively under the sun, it is sprinkled with a layer of peat of 5-8 cm. So that mulching does not damage the boxwood, you need to make sure that the peat does not come into contact with its young shoots or directly with the trunk.
Trimming
Planting and caring for boxwood shrubs require regular pruning. Haircut for evergreen boxwood can fall into two categories:
- sanitary;
- decorative.
The first is mandatory held every spring – in April or early May. During it, all dried, broken and diseased branches are removed from the plant – this avoids the appearance of fungi and pests.
Decorative cutting of the plant is carried out as needed. The shrub tolerates pruning well, so you can cut it often, but usually do it once every few months. Decorative pruning is most often aimed at maintaining the curly shape of the roots, in order for the shrub to retain its shape, it is necessary to prune young shoots.
With the help of pruning, you can give the boxwood a standard shape. To do this, all the lower shoots of the plant are radically cut, leaving only the central trunk, and the upper branches are cut so that the crown takes the form of a ball.
Protection against diseases and pests
Like any plant, boxwood remains vulnerable to certain diseases and insect pests. Of the fungal diseases, the most dangerous for the shrub are:
- shoot necrosis – the tips of the branches of the plant die off, and the leaves become covered with ugly dark spots;
- cancer – the disease is expressed in a change in the color of the foliage and its drying out;
- rust – with this disease, boxwood leaves become covered with bright orange spots, and then die off.
In all cases, boxwood should be treated with fungicidal solutions, for example, Fundazol. In order for the treatment to bring results, all the affected parts of the shrub must be removed and burned, while the cut points are treated with copper sulphate to avoid decay. The best prevention of fungal diseases is high-quality sanitary care for shrubs – the plant must be trimmed annually, removing all broken and dry branches, and monitoring the cleanliness of the soil near the roots.
Among the pests, the most dangerous for boxwood are boxwood moth, spider mite, boxwood flea and felt. To prevent the appearance and reproduction of these insects, it is necessary to prophylactically treat the shrub with insecticides – Karbofos, Aktara, Tagore. Treatment should begin at the beginning of spring with the establishment of warm weather, spraying can be repeated in the middle of summer.
Preparation for winter
The winter period is the most difficult for the heat-loving boxwood, and with the onset of autumn, the gardener needs to pay special attention to the shrub.
Before the arrival of the first frost, it is necessary to water the plant abundantly for the last time before wintering. After that, the soil under the trunk is covered in a circle with a mulch layer.
With the onset of frosts below -10 ° C, boxwood will need to be covered with high quality. The shrub is tightly wrapped with non-woven material or covered with spruce branches, the edges of the covering material are fixed with stakes. Before covering the branches of the plant, it is recommended to tie them up so that heavy snow does not break the shoots.
It is also necessary to pay attention to the care of boxwood in the spring – the shelter will need to be removed immediately after the onset of a constant thaw, since boxwood can rest in heat. A cloudy day is chosen to remove the covering material.
Features of planting and caring for boxwood in different regions
Modern agrotechnical methods make it possible to grow southern shrubs in almost all regions of the country – from the Moscow region to Siberia and the Far East. But when breeding shrubs in the northern regions, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the climate.
- Many gardeners mistakenly believe that the winters of central Our Country do not pose a danger to boxwood. This is fundamentally wrong, since even in the Moscow region the temperature in winter can drop significantly below -20 ° C. Boxwood in the Moscow region definitely needs shelter for the winter.
- Planting and caring for boxwood in the Leningrad region require special attention to the level of soil moisture. Humidity in the Leningrad region is high, so shrubs should be watered less frequently than in dry and hot regions of the country.
- When planting boxwood in Siberia and the Urals, it is worth worrying first of all about the successful wintering of the plant; the shrub here needs careful shelter. With the onset of spring, the shelter should not be removed immediately, but only after the final heat has been established.
How to grow boxwood at home
An interesting feature of boxwood is that the shrub is suitable for growing in tubs and containers at home. Boxwood grows very slowly, but looks very attractive in the interior – it can be kept both indoors and on balconies, terraces and loggias.
In fact, caring for boxwood at home differs little from growing a shrub in the open field.
- Boxwood still requires well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral soil, abundant watering without standing water, and occasional top dressing from spring to fall.
- For the summer, indoor boxwood can be put on the balcony or on the street, the main thing is to remember that it needs to be shaded from direct sunlight.
- In winter, the shrub is best kept in a cool room with a temperature of about 16 ° C.
- The soil during the winter should be moistened from time to time, but boxwood does not need abundant frequent watering during this period.
For indoor cultivation, the evergreen is ideal, because in this case the owner no longer has to worry about the difficult wintering of the plant.
Reproduction of boxwood
To increase the boxwood population on your site, it is not necessary to purchase expensive shrub seedlings. You can propagate the plant yourself, there are several simple ways to do this.
- Cutting. Shoots for propagation are harvested from July to autumn, the cuttings are kept for a day in a solution that stimulates root growth, and then transferred to a container or pot with standard neutral or slightly acidic soil. Cuttings are grown at room temperature in a shady place, on average, the rooting process takes 1-2 months.
- Seed Reproduction. Fresh boxwood seeds that have just come out of the box are soaked for a day in a growth stimulator, and then germinated in wet gauze for another month. After the appearance of seedlings, the seeds are sown in a container filled with a sand-peat mixture, covered with a film or glass, and for another 15-20 days they wait for the appearance of green shoots. Strengthened seedlings are transferred to open ground not earlier than spring, after the final establishment of warm weather.
- Reproduction by layers. If the lower shoots of boxwood are located close to the ground, one of them can simply be bent down, make a small incision on the surface of the stem and deepen it into the ground, securing the shoot so that it does not straighten. Planted cuttings are cared for in exactly the same way as for the main shrub; during the season, the cuttings should give strong roots. For the first wintering, it is better to leave it next to the mother plant.
Of all the methods of propagating boxwood, the simplest and most effective is propagation by cuttings; even novice gardeners can handle it without any problems.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for boxwood can be carried out not only in the southern regions, but also in all other areas of the country, including those with a rather cold climate. Boxwood requires increased attention from the gardener in the autumn-winter period, but if you follow the basic rules for growing it, the shrub will safely endure the cold and retain maximum decorative effect.