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The Latin name for this plant is buxus. Boxwood is an evergreen shrub or tree. They grow relatively slowly. Plant height varies from 2 to 12 m. These shrubs are valued for their beauty and unpretentiousness, but boxwood must be pruned regularly. In nature, they grow in different places: in rocky gorges and deciduous forests. Boxwood can be found in Southern Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America.
Since ancient times, buxus wood has been highly valued; chess pieces, musical instruments, smoking pipes and much more were made from it. Boxwood was also appreciated by landscape designers. Specially bred weeping and dwarf species can turn any garden into a fairy-tale corner. But for this you need to carry out regular pruning.
In the video you can see a boxwood curly haircut:
Boxwood in landscape design
With proper care, the shrub can live about 500 years. Its compact rounded crown will become pliable clay in the hands of both a professional and a novice gardener. Different types of boxwood have their own decorative value.
All varieties respond well to pruning. By properly trimming the branches, you can form the correct geometric shapes from the crown: a pyramid, a ball, a cone and others. Boxwood can be given absolutely any shape. Low-growing species can be used to create borders and original parterres; they are also used to frame flower beds. Any floral arrangements against the background of trimmed boxwood will look advantageous.
Buxus is often used as a background for other plants. It has beautiful and deep leaf color. This noble shrub goes perfectly with buldenezh, barberry, roses, heucheira, and lilac. To achieve an original contrast, it is better to select flowering plants with brightly colored petals.
The most popular varieties of boxwood include:
- Aureovariegata. It has elongated ovate leaves that change color: a green tint is mixed with the yellow over time. The bushes of this boxwood are resistant to drought and frost and can grow in some shade.
- Compacta. A plant with a dense dense crown consisting of small oval leaves. This boxwood reaches a height of 80 cm. Suitable for creating low hedges, as well as for growing in tubs.
- Marginata. It is distinguished by beautiful oblong leaves. Each has a delicate pistachio-colored border. Boxwood of this variety grows from 2 to 4 m in height.
- Curly Locks. The intricately curved stems and leaves give this variety of boxwood a special decorative appearance. An excellent option for a path or flower bed.
- Latifoliamaculata. Maximum height – 1.5 m.The leaves of this boxwood look like chameleons: young ones have a golden hue, and the lower ones, as they mature, acquire richer green tones.
When to trim boxwood
You can prune boxwood at home only after two years. During this time, the bush will have time to fully take root and strengthen. If a low-growing boxwood (about 25-30 cm) was planted as a border, then minor pruning can be done after a couple of weeks, carefully removing the top, but no more than 5-10 cm.
In the southern regions, you can start the first pruning as early as April. If the climate is not very favorable, you should wait for stable warmth and postpone the procedure to May. Boxwood is a slow-growing shrub. In most cases, a little corrective pruning of new growth is sufficient. Only very neglected and shapeless branches are cut back to old wood. After a month, you will need to trim the protruding branches again.
Decorative pruning of boxwood is carried out in spring, summer and autumn. For this, they usually choose the evening of a cloudy day. When exposed to the sun, burns appear on the leaves. But young plants, that is, with a sparse crown, are not afraid of even the summer heat.
Pruning boxwood in spring
Boxwood is trimmed in the spring before active growth begins. Start pruning from the top, gradually moving down. Small branches are cut from the top; they should not disturb the harmonious shape of the bush. As for large boxwood branches, they are pruned so that they cannot grow young shoots inside the bush. This makes the buxus untidy.
Regular pruning of bushes is the key to their lush and beautiful crown. After this, the plants should be given more attention, regularly watering and feeding them.
Pruning boxwood in autumn
By mid-summer, boxwood growth stops. However, the movement of juices inside the shoots does not completely stop. Therefore, the active growth phase will resume. Boxwood trimming in autumn occurs at the end of October or the first days of November. At this time, two periods of growth have already passed, but serious frosts have not yet arrived. Now you need to prune the young shoots to stimulate their growth next spring. It is enough to remove only 2 cm.
After this, the boxwood is prepared for winter. First of all, the mulch is replaced. The summer version (leaves + grass) will begin to rot quickly. If the bush is not standard, rotting will quickly spread to the branches and leaves. Spruce branches and peat will help protect the roots from the cold. Winter sun poses a threat to the crown.
Under its rays, the shoots resume growth. In this case, the roots remain in the cold soil and do not deliver nutrients to the leaves. Gradually they begin to fade. The buxus is covered with a breathable dark material - a piece of fabric or burlap.
Scissors for cutting boxwood
To prune bushes, you will need different tools, each of which has its own purpose. The final choice of equipment depends on how dense the branches are, as well as on their location: at the top, on the outside or inside the bush.
There are several types of pruning tools:
- Cordless hedge trimmer. Indispensable for forming hedges. The tool is lightweight and easy to use. With its help, the crown can only be given a rectangular shape.
- Scissors for pruning bushes. The extended steel handles have plastic or nylon inserts for greater comfort. Using short, sharp blades, bushes can be shaped into different shapes. They are quite convenient for pruning.
- Cordless garden shears. They are designed for cutting hard boxwood branches. This tool simultaneously combines several pairs of scissors, which are driven by a battery.
- Sheep shearing shears. They are used to trim soft branches of boxwood that have not yet become woody. They also make it easy to adjust the contours of the crown. The instrument is made from a single piece of metal, and the handle is shaped like a heart.
- Secateurs. It is used to thin out overgrown bushes and trim branches and shoots that are not too thick. The design has two blades: one is a support blade, and the other is a working blade. They are bent in a semicircle. Using pruning shears, form hedges, bushes and borders.
How to cut boxwood
Frequent pruning of the bush requires an increase in the amount of fertilizing and watering. This will allow the plant to replenish lost nutrients faster. Otherwise, the boxwood will begin to lose its foliage.
How to trim boxwood with a ball
The easiest way is to use homemade or purchased blanks. It consists of a rod and a wire semicircle. You just need to choose the right radius. It is more difficult to form a bush “by eye”. First you need to trim it into a cube shape, and then cut off the tops, turning the crown into a semicircle.
Another option for forming boxwood on a trunk is to trim the side shoots at the base, focusing on the future rounding from the bottom, and then round the top and sides until the crown takes the desired shape.
Boxwood topiary haircut
The main rule for such pruning is that the work must be done from the inside out, from top to bottom. The crown is trimmed evenly, gradually and in small parts. You cannot cut out a large fragment in one area; when creating a figure, you must maintain proportions.
Boxwood figures:
- Cube To form this figure you will need one or more bushes with a thick crown and dense branches. The entire composition should look organic. To get cubic boxwoods, you need to plant one plant in the center and place the rest nearby in a square. Using wooden slats, you need to make a frame for the future cube and trim along it.
- Pyramid. You need to draw a circle or square around the bush. Along the perimeter, slats are immersed in the ground, which must be fastened at the top with a rope. Using this blank, boxwood is trimmed in the shape of a pyramid.
- Cone. The principle is approximately the same. The slats are fastened with rope and the branches are cut strictly along them, moving from bottom to top.
- Spiral. First, a cone or pyramid is made. Then the bush is wrapped with colored tape. It imitates a future spiral. You need to decide in advance on the number of turns and the distance between them. Pruning branches with pruning shears is carried out strictly along the contour of the tape.
How to form a hedge from boxwood
Young bushes are initially trimmed the same way. The initial height is 15 cm from the ground. Further, when the shoots grow - to a height of 20 cm and so on. The crown will be dense and quite branched. In such a hedge there will be no voids or holes, bare lower branches and too thick tops. Such combinations do not look aesthetically pleasing. During one summer season, you need to carry out at least 3-4 such prunings. Then the annual growth of the bush will be from 15 to 20 cm.The last pruning is carried out in late August. This will give the young shoots the opportunity to ripen before the cold weather.
Features of boxwood formation
Young plants require frequent pruning. This stimulates the growth of new shoots, the bush becomes more branched and dense. On the other hand, the greater the density of the bush, the more difficult it is for the rays of the sun to penetrate into the center. Inner branches remain bare.
When pruning a bush, it is gradually narrowed from the base to the top. This way all branches will be evenly illuminated by the sun. Dead or diseased branches should not be radically pruned immediately. It is better to divide the procedure into several stages so as not to destroy the plant.
A special mesh will help you create beautiful and perfectly even borders. It is placed over the bushes and only those shoots that stick out through it are removed.
Boxwood leaves and branches contain toxic alkaloids. Any manipulations with the plant should be carried out only with thick gloves.
Conclusion
Prune boxwood beautifully - a real art. You can entrust garden care to a professional or take the initiative into your own hands. Gradually you can learn all the intricacies of decorative pruning. This is a very exciting activity. An ordinary bush makes real living sculptures and labyrinths. In combination with beautiful and original street lamps and various flowering shrubs, an ordinary garden will turn into a unique park with its own unique atmosphere.
