Boxwoods have beguile me ever since childhood when I get wind a concealing shoes inside two 15 foot tall specimen of American Turkish boxwood in my grandmother ’s garden . Since they are emblematic of traditional Virginia yards , you could imagine my hurt to discover that the English boxwood we plant eight twelvemonth ago were not all thriving like those giants . Here ’s what my wife and I discovered about these sometime standbys of landscaping .
change : Although one C of cultivars exist , three main chemical group do well with fear in fundamental Virginia : Littleleaf ( sometimes called Japanese ) , Common and Korean boxwoods . Thankfully , cervid commonly avoid them all .
Littleleaf ( Buxus microphylla ) is thick , hardy , heat and pollution tolerant , but may require pruning to keep a perfect shape .
coarse ( Buxus sempervirens ) includes the familiar American as well as English boxwood . Because there are many choices in colour and size , take your cultivar cautiously . observe : We dug our English boxwoods from a friend ’s railyard and have had to replace several with fearless varieties .
Korean ( Buxus sinica.var.insularis ) also varies from 2 - 7 feet tall and as much as 10 feet full , depending on the cultivar and can arrive with light gullible foliage .
When a soil run indicates nutrients are needed , circularize farinaceous fertilizer with a 10 - 6 - 4 depth psychology on top of the mulch just beyond the dripping line in the downfall . Because roots are shallow , it ’s important to have the fertilizer dissolve and soak through to the land . Too much plant food will stimulate browning . A soil psychometric test through the Extension Service will indicate if amendments are necessary . Nitrogen inadequacy shows up when down leave of absence march a uniform yellowing , especially older leaves inside the plant .
Just because their parting do n’t wilt , we should n’t forget that boxwoods can bear from summertime drouth and wintertime winds so water as want . you could protect industrial plant from especially severe winter and great snowfall by twine them in burlap .
Thinning , pruning and shearing : We often choose box for landscaping for a duet of very good reasons : they keep their color and can be shape nicely either by pick out the right cultivar or by shearing . However , have in thinker these touch . Early wintertime is the time for major pruning to reduce size of it . terrible reductions in size should be distribute over two years . Reach inside the shrub about 6 - 8 inches down with sharp shunt pruner and cut back to a major joint . withdraw about 10 percent of the out branch . English Turkish boxwood incline to grow especially slow and thus are susceptible to disease , so thinning to promote air circulation is important . In other June , we can shear plants to the shape desired . Since this shaping does not promote the sound growth , the plant life can then be rationalise light , have off only 1 - 2 ” branches to encourage more igniter and atmosphere . Again , shake and rake because litter accruement conduce to adventitious ancestor which can be damaged by extravagant hotness and cold .
Despite their hardiness , boxwoods do get disease and pestilence . The best defense is unspoilt ethnical practices and nimble identification of trouble with aid from Virginia Cooperative Extension . Boxwood blight has been describe not far from Piedmont Virginia . Insure that unexampled plant come disease - free from reputable principal .
address :
“ Selecting Landscape Plants : Boxwoods ” Va. Coop . Ext . ,ext.vt.edu/426/426 - 603
The Boxwood Handbook(Lynn R. Batdorf )
“ Thin box for Improved Plant Health,”U.S. National Arboretum site , http://www.usna.usda.gov / Gardens / faqs / BoxwoodThinning.html
“ About Boxwood,”boxwoodsociety.org
“ Best Management Practices for Boxwood Blight in the Virginia Home Landscape , ” Va.Coop.Ext.pubs.ext.vt.edu/PPWS-29/pdf
