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Top dressing of boxwood is one of the most important measures for caring for ornamental crops. A shrub, deprived of any of the necessary substances, changes color, loses leaves and entire branches. Healthy boxwood can live for more than 500 years, remaining a bright, original decoration of the garden. But to maintain an impeccable decorative effect, he will need regular top dressing, starting from the first years of life.
Types of fertilizers for boxwood
Boxwood is able to grow on a wide variety of soils and thrives both in foggy England and in the hot climate of the Mediterranean. But the culture has some preferences. An evergreen shrub feels best on soils with impurities of clay and limestone. If planting is supposed to be in sandy soil, it is advisable to fertilize it with mature compost.
After planting, boxwood can be fed in several ways using fertilizers of various origins. The choice of preparations depends on the preferences of the gardener, economic feasibility and local conditions.
Mineral Fertilizers
Ready-made compositions for evergreens greatly simplify the care of boxwood. Separate mineral top dressings are convenient to use if the shrub’s need for certain elements is established. Fertilizers can be applied throughout the spring and summer. Experienced gardeners recommend completing such procedures as early as July.
Most often, such ready-made preparations are used for feeding boxwood:
- traditional potash, phosphorus compounds (potassium chloride, superphosphate) and nitrogen supplements (ammonium nitrate);
- complex preparation PETER PEAT “NPK 15-15-15” can be used with an interval of 20 days;
- for rooting boxwood (buxus) – Ecostyle Buxus-AZ, applied immediately after planting;
- growth activator that stimulates the synthesis of chlorophyll – AGRECOL;
- mixtures for immunity and decorativeness of evergreen crops – Actiwin, Super Master.
Organic Fertilizers
Preparations of plant or animal origin can be used as top dressing for boxwood in spring and autumn when loosening or digging. Some organic compounds also work well as mulch.
Natural formulations have the following application features:
- An infusion of bird droppings or mullein is prepared at the rate of 1 part of top dressing per 10 parts of water.
- Only well-rotted organics harvested a year earlier are used as fertilizers.
- Solutions for top dressing evenly spill the soil in the near-trunk circle, trying not to get on the leaves and shoots. Otherwise, adult plants risk leaf burns, and young plants can dry out completely.
- Indoor or potted outdoor boxwoods are fed no more than once a month.
Organic fertilizers strongly acidify the soil. This effect is dangerous for evergreens, so the soil should be regularly returned to a neutral state. For deoxidation of soil under boxwood, the use of lime compounds is not recommended. It is better to regularly apply natural substances that have the effect of additional feeding:
- fine dolomite flour – a source of magnesium, calcium;
- bone meal (white) – natural nitrogen fertilizer;
- wood ash – a good potassium supplement.
The substrates deacidify the soil, without harming the beneficial bacteria in the soil and the ecological balance of the site. As a mulching material, fine peat, humus or bark is used.
Home cooking supplies
Universal fertilizers can be made independently from wild herbs or weeds removed from the site. Such dressings are harmless, effective, contain a lot of elements and bacteria that are useful for boxwood.
Preparation of infusion for feeding boxwood:
- the collected weeds are arbitrarily crushed, placed in bulk dishes;
- pour the green mass with water at the rate of 10 liters per 1 kg of raw materials;
- cover the container with glass or film;
- infuse the mixture for at least 5 days.
Such fertilizers are especially relevant for boxwood in spring and summer, when the plant needs the full range of nutrients, without the danger of an overdose of nitrogen or other elements. Before fertilizing, the finished herbal concentrate is diluted with soft water for irrigation in a ratio of 1:10.
Of the available natural dressings, wood ash is especially popular. Pollinating the soil around the boxwood with it, they get several effects, including prevention from infections and pests. Crushed egg shells are used as root dressing, dropping it in the root zone.
How to fertilize boxwood
There are specialized top dressings for buksus, which can be used for open ground or applied all season under tub plants with a frequency of 10 days. But still, boxwood should be fertilized in autumn, spring or at the height of the growing season in different ways. This is especially true for outdoor shrubs that survive frosty winters and summer heat in the open air.
How to feed boxwood in spring
If the soil in the area was well fertilized when planting, young plants may not need to be fed for several seasons. But lack of nutrition can stop the already slow growth of the bush, change the color of the leaves. Shrubs that constantly lack the necessary substances tend to change color, turn yellow, turn brown or dry out. Therefore, from the age of 3, they begin to fertilize boxwood every spring in several stages.
At the first sign of awakening of the kidneys, you can feed the bushes with ammonium nitrate. After 2-3 weeks, the soil is fertilized with a complex composition with the obligatory presence of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.
Before the onset of hot months, the soil around the boxwoods should be mulched using peat. This technique will reduce the evaporation of moisture, keep the soil loose, and further enrich the nutrition of the bushes. The substrate is laid in a small layer in the near-trunk circle, without touching the bole. Otherwise, the trunk, sprinkled with mulch, tends to rot. Ash, dolomite or bone meal can be pre-sprayed under the peat layer, depending on the needs of the boxwood.
Signs of a lack of elements by changing the color of the leaves:
- lack of magnesium – the appearance of a brown tint;
- lack of nitrogen – yellowness in the lower part of the bush or a bronze tint of leaves;
- general depletion of the soil – paleness of color, discoloration.
In the middle of the season, experienced gardeners recommend top dressing only if the condition of the bushes is alarming. It is advisable to fertilize boxwood in the summer with natural biological compounds.
How to feed boxwood in autumn
Autumn care is aimed at the successful wintering of the bushes. Therefore, starting from the middle of summer, nitrogen fertilizing, including organic matter, is completely excluded. It is no longer necessary to stimulate the growth of green mass at this time, otherwise the young growth will not have time to mature and will freeze in winter.
Top dressing of boxwood by autumn should consist of phosphorus and potassium compounds. Experienced gardeners are advised to refrain from fertilizing after September. The last top dressing in the season for boxwood should be potash (potassium salt or potassium magnesia), which will accelerate the ripening of shoots and prepare the plant for cold weather.
Before frosts, water-charging watering is necessarily carried out. Abundant moisture in autumn helps boxwood branches and leaves survive frosts. A few days after abundant moisture, the soil is mulched.
How to properly feed boxwood
In order for fertilization to bring only benefits and allow you to grow a beautiful ornamental bush, and not harm, you should follow a few rules:
- any top dressing is started only after the seedlings are fully rooted;
- after each haircut, boxwood requires increased feeding (preferably with complex compounds for evergreens);
- it is advisable to evenly sprinkle mineral fertilizers around the bushes in a dry form – a concentrated solution burns the roots;
- liquid dressings are applied only after watering, on wet ground.
In summer, foliar irrigation can be carried out by spraying weak solutions of fertilizers on the leaves. The procedure is carried out only in the evening or in cloudy weather to avoid chemical and sunburn of the leaves.
Conclusion
Top dressing boxwood seems to be a complex science only at first glance. After spending one annual cycle of caring for ornamental bushes, even a novice gardener simply needs to repeat it in subsequent seasons. For a healthy, normally developing bush, spring and autumn top dressing are basic and often sufficient procedures. The rest of the time, you need to monitor the condition of the boxwood and respond in time to its needs.