Hardly any other evergreen plant is as popular with us as the boxwood. Here you can find out what you have to consider when planting, cutting etc.
Box trees (Buxus) have become an integral part of our garden landscape. Box trees adorn gardens and parks as hedges, shrubs, balls or even in imaginative shapes. In order for your boxwood to thrive magnificently, there are a few tips that need to be observed. With us you will learn everything from planting and caring for the propagation to overwintering the evergreen shrub.
Boxwood: origin and claims
The name "Buchsbaum" is derived from the Greek word "pyxís", which in German means "Büchse" (English "Box Wood" - from "box"). Because even in ancient Greece, boxes and cans were turned from the wood of the boxwood. The boxwood family (Buxaceae) includes 70 species worldwide.
The boxwood is a shrub that can also occur as a tree. The foliage is evergreen and consists of dark green, leathery leaves. The boxwood makes few demands on its location and is otherwise very easy to care for. It also copes very well with frequent cutting. However, the evergreen bush grows very slowly, just 10 to 20 centimeters in a year.
Buy boxwood
When buying your boxwood, you should make sure that the plant looks he althy and well cared for. Make sure you don't find any signs of disease or pests on the boxwood. In addition, the foliage should be rich and green. It is also important to check the he alth of the roots.
You can buy boxwoods in garden centres, hardware stores or tree nurseries. Many online retailers also offer boxwood for delivery.
You can find more detailed tips on buying your boxwood here.
Boxwood species and varieties
Two types of boxwood (Buxus) are interesting for growing in our gardens: The Buxus sempervirens and theBuxus microphylla. Buxus sempervirens is the Common Boxwood and is native to the Mediterranean. Buxus microphylla, the Japanese or small-leaved boxwood, originally comes from Korea and has also been cultivated in Japan for centuries. Below we present popular varieties of these two species.
Buxus sempervirens:
- 'Suffruticosa': The variety best suited for edging beds and as a hedge. It forms long, medium-sized, light green leaves and usually does not exceed 50 cm in height
- 'Blauer Heinz': This variety is also well suited for edging beds, as it is low-growing and frost-hardy. The leaves are bluish
- 'Aurea': This boxwood variety is interesting because of its special leaf colour. After sprouting, the leaves are golden yellow and later turn green
- 'Globosa': If you want a boxwood ball, you should choose this variety; this already grows somewhat spherical on its own
Buxus microphylla:
- 'Faulkner': A popular variety of the Buxus mircophylla. This bears glossy, olive-colored foliage and is very hardy to drought and cold. Faulkner box trees grow very bushy and are therefore well suited as ground cover
- 'Herrenhausen': Another proven boxwood variety. This is particularly suitable for hedges and borders, is rather small and resistant to fungal attack
Planting boxwood: location and instructions
The frugal boxwood is satisfied with almost any location, but you should consider a few points to create ideal growth conditions. The ideal location for your boxwood should be sunny and warm. The boxwood especially loves locations with morning and evening sun. However, he does not want to stand in the blazing midday sun. The soil should be well loosened and aerated. You should avoid waterlogging by working sand into soil that is too heavy. Slightly moist, alkaline soils with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5 offer ideal conditions for your boxwood.
Box trees feel particularly at home in this location:
- Sunny to semi-shady location
- Loose, well-aerated soil
- Soil rich in humus PH between 6.5 and 7.5
The best time to plant the boxwood is in the spring between March and May. Lift onesufficiently large planting hole. Now place the boxwood in the middle of the hole, then fill the hole with the excavation, preferably with a nutrient-rich organic soil such as our Plantura organic potting soil, and water it. When planting as a hedge, a spade-wide ditch is dug and the boxwoods are planted 20 centimeters apart for low hedges and 30 to 35 centimeters apart for tall hedges.
Planting boxwood: How to proceed step by step:
- Dig the planting pit
- Put the boxwood in the middle of the planting hole
- Fill the planting pit with excavation and compost
- Cast on
Transplant boxwood
You can also replant box trees when they are very old. Choose a frost-free, not too hot day. To dig up the boxwood, use a spade to dig up the root ball to the same extent as the boxwood crown. The depth depends on the size of the tree - at least 40 centimeters for a small bush, at least 60 centimeters for a large one. Use a digging fork to loosen the soil under the bush as much as possible. Then lift out the boxwood and cut back any damaged roots. After that, the dug up boxwood should be soaked in a vessel for half an hour. Then, as described above, it can be planted in its new location or in a pot.
You can also find detailed information and tips on planting and transplanting box trees in beds, hedges and pots here.
Propagating boxwood
There are two vegetative methods for propagating boxwood yourself: propagation by cuttings or by division. We will introduce both to you below.
Propagating boxwood by cuttings
The best time for propagation by cuttings is late summer or autumn. Strong, bushy plants are most suitable, from which older, branched shoots can be used. But you can also use younger plants for propagation. One-year shoots are particularly suitable here.
Propagation of boxwood by cuttings in brief:
- Tear off about 15 centimeters long biennial shoots against the direction of growth
- Shorten shoot tips by a third
- The lower third of theRemove leaves from branch
- Cut off protruding bark tongue
- Plant up to the base of the leaves in pots with cuttings soil
- Pour and keep constantly moist
- Grow at room temperature
- Planting outdoors next year
Propagating boxwood by division
In the division, a boxwood is severed and divided into two parts. However, this is associated with a high risk of loss, since the division creates entry points for diseases and pests. In addition, fewer young plants are obtained this way than with cuttings.
Propagating boxwood by division - summary:
- Dig out the plant generously around the root ball (radius is at least the current height of the tree)
- Divide the bale on a hard surface with a spade or saw
- New subplant should have at least two shoots
- Planting either outdoors or in pots
You can find detailed instructions on how to propagate boxwood here.
Care for boxwood
Even if the boxwood is generally very easy to care for, it also needs to be watered and fertilized sufficiently. We give you tips on how to water and fertilize your boxwood correctly and tell you what is important when pruning the evergreen bushes.
Water boxwood
Because the boxwood only has shallow roots, it cannot draw water from deeper soil layers. It is therefore dependent on regular watering when it is dry. With potted plants, you should make sure that the soil does not dry out - even in winter. If you see brownish leaves and shoots after the winter, this can be a sign of too much drought in the cold season. Especially in hot and dry summers, the boxwood is happy to be sprayed with a hose or watering can to remove dust from the leaves.
Fertilize boxwood
Typical symptoms that your boxwood is suffering from a lack of nitrogen are reduced growth and yellowing of the leaves. However, to ensure that it does not get that far, the box tree is dependent on regular fertilizer application. The best time to fertilize is from spring to early summer. However, you should not fertilize later, as the shoots supported by the fertilizer quickly grow in frostdie. For box trees, we recommend fertilizing with a fertilizer that offers an organic long-term effect - such as compost and our Plantura organic universal fertilizer. An organic long-term fertilizer provides the plants with long-term nutrients and at the same time promotes he althy soil life and humus build-up.
You can find detailed instructions for the ideal fertilization of your boxwood here.
Cutting boxwood
The pruning plays an important role with the boxwood: it promotes growth, the bushes become denser and more lush and the boxwood can be brought into the desired shape. Can be pruned between April and September. It is also important that the sun does not shine fully and it does not rain on the day of cutting. Both hand scissors and electric scissors are suitable for cutting, but they should be sharp. Templates can also help to bring the boxwood into the desired shape.
You can find more tips and tricks for pruning boxwood here.
Winter boxwood
In the bed or as a hedge, the boxwood can survive our winters well. The situation is different with box trees in pots. They are more delicate and require some measures to avoid freezing to death. If you can carry the pot, simply place the boxwood somewhere sheltered from the wind, for example in front of a house wall. To protect the pot from the cold from below, it is best to place it on a wooden board. If the pot is too big or too heavy to move, the bucket can also be protected from frost with jute bags. On particularly cold days and nights, the boxwood itself can be packed into the jute bags. Also remember to water your boxwood regularly in winter - but only on frost-free days.
You can find out what damage frost can do to your boxwood and how you can prevent this in our special article on boxwood damage caused by environmental conditions.
Boxwood diseases
Unfortunately, some diseases also affect the boxwood and can affect it very badly. Here we give you a brief overview of the most important boxwood diseases.
Boxwood Crayfish
The fungus Volutella buxi can penetrate the plant through the bark of the box tree and initially cause proliferation and later the death of shoots. Is your boxwood from canceraffected, then you should cut back and remove the affected parts.
Boxwood dieback
Triggered by the fungus Cylindrocladium buxicola the box tree dieback causes entire box trees to wither away. The first signs of an infestation are brownish or orange spots on the leaves, which get bigger and bigger. Eventually, the bush sheds all its leaves, and the shoots become bare. With such an infestation, the only thing that helps is to remove the affected plants, alternatively a pesticide can help.
You can read here how you can recognize boxwood dieback and what can be done about it. You can also find a more detailed description of the boxwood fungus in our special article.
Boxwood rust
Another disease caused by fungi is boxwood rust. Rust fungi usually stain the leaves of the plant rusty red to brown. To combat this, the affected parts of the plant can simply be cut off and disposed of.
We have prepared detailed instructions for you on how to recognize and combat boxwood diseases.
Boxwood Pests
The best-known boxwood pest is probably the boxwood moth. But other pests also enjoy the leaves of the bush. Here we present the most important boxwood pests.
You can find a comprehensive overview of boxwood pests and information on how to combat them here.
Box tree moth
For several years, the caterpillars of the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) have been eating holes in our box trees. From the middle of May they are up to mischief. You can also find out everything you need to know about the box tree moth in our special article.
If the infestation is detected early enough, it can be combated with biological sprays such as our Plantura Zünslerfrei XenTari®.
You can find out how to get rid of the pest with proven home remedies in our article Fighting box tree moths with home remedies. If these do not help either, we will give you further tips for combating the box tree moth. We have put together all the important information on how to dispose of and handle the borer caterpillars here.
Tip: With pheromone traps like the Plantura borer trap, an infestation of thebox tree moth can be detected early. So you can react quickly and fight the borer.
shoot tip mite
Twisted shoots and leaves are caused by the shoot tip mite. This won't damage your boxwood, but it doesn't look very nice. Spot infected plant parts, then cut back and remove them.
Buxus Leaf Flea
The boxwood flea also enjoys the leaves of your bush. You can recognize the infestation by the spoon-shaped, crooked leaves. Cutting off infested areas helps against flea.
Boxwood: Toxic to humans and animals?
It is safe for box tree moths and the like to feed on the box tree. For everyone else, however, the evergreen bush is highly toxic. This is due to the 70 different alkaloids in the roots and leaves of the plant. However, since these taste very bitter and inedible, nobody would think of eating their fill. However, you should be careful with children, as with a low body weight even a small amount of the poison can have serious consequences. Therefore, supervise small children in the garden and teach them from an early age not to eat from the plant. This allows the beautiful bush to grow in your garden without posing any danger.
You can find more detailed information on the topic "Boxwood: Toxic or not?" in our special article.
But maybe it doesn't always have to be boxwood? You can find out more about possible alternatives to boxwood here.