The boxwood is very popular in pots, as a shrub or as a hedge. We show what needs to be considered when planting and transplanting the book.
The boxwood (Buxus) adorns many of our gardens. Its evergreen color and ability to be cut into a variety of shapes makes it extremely popular with many gardeners. Although boxwood is versatile and requires little maintenance, it needs to be planted properly to thrive. Plantura shows you the location and soil requirements as well as instructions for planting and transplanting your boxwood.
Planting boxwood: location and requirements
Inappropriate environmental conditions - such as sunburn or frost damage - can severely affect the boxwood. You can find out more about this in our article on boxwood damage caused by environmental influences. It is all the more important to plant your boxwood in the right location. Originally, the boxwood comes from the Mediterranean region with its Mediterranean, warm climate. That is why the boxwood also loves warm, sunny locations. He prefers morning and evening sun. He doesn't want to be exposed to the blazing midday sun any more than complete shade. It becomes critical for your boxwood in hot locations with direct sunlight. You should therefore not plant it directly in front of a south wall.
You should also place your boxwood in such a way that air can circulate well. Then wet leaves can dry quickly and the risk of a fungal infection is lower.
The soil should be well loosened and aerated for the flat-rooted plant. Waterlogging should not form, as this can lead to root rot or suffocate the roots. The box prefers a nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil. The ideal pH value for him is between 6 and 7; so the soil should not be acidic. Our peat-free Plantura organic universal soil is ideal for planting your boxwood.
Summary of site and soil requirements boxwood:
- Sunny to semi-shady location
- No blazing midday sun,no shadow
- Ideally place in places where air can circulate well
- Loose, well-aerated soil
- Soil rich in humus PH between 6.5 and 7.5
Planting boxwood: The best time
When you plant your boxwood depends on whether you bought it in a container or pot, in a ball or bare-rooted. You can find tips for buying your boxwood in our special article. Box trees in pots or containers can be planted all year round, but there should be no frost. In general, box trees in pots or containers are less sensitive because the root ball is protected, but these box trees are usually the most expensive, but you will also find the largest selection here. It is best to plant box trees in the form of bales in the spring until the beginning of June or in October. The biggest advantage of baled goods is that they are very readily available in spring and autumn. You can plant bare-root box trees either in October or from March to May. These specimens are usually cheaper, but this form is rarely found on the market. In addition, the bare root ball is extremely sensitive and it is important not to plant too hot or too humid at an optimal planting time.
Summary when to plant boxwood:
- Container or potted goods: all year round (frost-free)
- Bale goods: beginning of June or October
- Bare roots: October or from March to May
Planting boxwood in the bed
Before planting, place your boxwood in a container of water for several hours. Then prepare the planting site. Remove all weeds, stones and roots and loosen the soil to make it as easy as possible for your boxwood to settle into its new home. Now dig a planting hole that is about twice the size of the root ball. In addition, the boxwood should not be buried deeper than it was in the pot. Now place your boxwood in the middle of the hole. To do this, pot out the container goods and move the plant. In the case of bales, place the plant with the bale cloth in the hole and only then remove the cloth. Now fill the hole with plenty of water and wait for everything to drain. This gives plenty of water around the roots where it is needed. Then fill the planting hole with the excavation. You can use this with compost orenrich a fertilizer with an organic long-term fertilizer such as the Plantura organic universal fertilizer. Then water your boxwood again. You can place a layer of organic material - such as grass clippings, leaves or bark mulch - around the sapling. But be sure to keep the mulch a few inches from the stem of your plant. It is advisable to cut back the leaf mass of the boxwood by a third after planting. When planting, the root ball is usually damaged and the root mass is reduced. By cutting back, you adjust the leaf mass to the still existing root mass and thus guarantee good growth.
Planting boxwood summary:
- Water the root ball of the plant for several hours
- Loosen the soil well
- Dig the planting pit
- Put the boxwood in the middle of the planting hole
- Fill the planting hole with water and wait until everything has drained away
- Fill the planting pit with excavation and compost
- Cast on
- Spread mulch
- Cut back the leaf mass by a third
Plant your boxwood as a specimen plant, then leave some space around it. This ensures that it does not compete with other plants and their roots.
Plant boxwood as a hedge
If you want to plant a box hedge, we recommend the following procedure: Here, too, leave the root ball of the plants in a container with water for several hours. You can use a string to mark the course of your hedge. Then dig a spade-wide trench along the cord. Remove all weeds, stones and roots and ensure a loose, finely crumbly plant bed. Loosen up the excavation well and enrich it with compost. The height of the root balls of your boxwood plants can serve as a guide for the depth of the trench. You should be able to set the boxwood loosely in the ditch without bending the root. Then put the saplings in the ditch. Plant spacing is important here. For low hedges, we recommend a planting distance of 20 centimetres, i.e. approx. five to six plants per meter. For higher hedges, a planting distance of 30 to 35 centimeters, i.e. two to three plants per meter, is recommended. Now fill the trench with the excavation and water the plants extensively. Applying mulch can also help here.
Planting boxwood in a pot
Box trees are great plants for pots and containers as their root system is not large and they can live well in a large pot for many years. The location and soil requirements that boxwood makes in the garden also apply to planting in pots. The selected pot should have a drainage hole and drainage so that the water can drain out of the pot and there is no waterlogging. You can use coarse material such as gravel, grit or broken pottery for the drainage layer. Place a water- and air-permeable fleece on the inorganic material before you fill in the substrate. A nutrient-rich, loose substrate offers the best conditions for your boxwood. Now prepare a sufficiently large planting hole, place your box tree in the middle of the hole and water it well.
Transplant boxwood: procedure and instructions
If you want to move your boxwood at some point, this is usually not a problem, even for older boxwoods. You can transplant your boxwood in spring, i.e. around March, or in autumn. Ideally, there should be neither frost nor drought on the day you have chosen, so that the boxwood, which is already stressed from transplanting, is not damaged even more. When digging up the boxwood, however, you should note the following: It is best to use a spade. The root ball to be dug up should be about the same size as the width of the boxwood. How deep you have to dig depends on the size of the plant. Now carefully lift out the boxwood and then place it in a container with water. Now you can plant the boxwood in its new location. You can use the Plantura organic universal soil for this, for example. Despite careful action, the boxwood probably lost some of its root mass when transplanted. It is therefore advisable to cut it back by a maximum of one third. However, this is only advisable in the spring. In the fall, it is better to postpone pruning until next spring.
Transplanting boxwood summary:
- Dig up the root ball with the spade
- Circumference of the root ball should be as big as the boxwood is wide
- Remove carefully
- Water the root balls well in the container
- Loosen the soil at the planting site and enrich it with compost
- Plant in the middle and as deep as beforeSet planting hole
- Fill the planting hole with substrate
- Water well
- Apply mulch layer
- Pruning back by a third in spring
Box trees in pots should be repotted every three to four years. Choose a pot that is only a few centimeters larger in diameter than the old pot. In this way, you avoid the boxwood putting all its strength into rooting through the new vessel and neglecting above-ground growth. Even the boxwood looks forward to a longer water bath after it has been removed from the pot before it can move to its new home.
Once your boxwood has been planted, you will find tips for caring for the box and instructions on how to protect it from boxwood pests here.