A long-lived shrub with small smooth leaves, so often found in the form hedges and curbs on the streets of the resort towns of the Black Sea coast - this is a handsome evergreen boxwood. Planting and caring for this plant is quite simple, and few people can remain indifferent to its appearance.
Content:
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What is
Boxwood is an evergreen, slow-growing shrub of the Boxwood family. The homeland of the plant is western India and the countries of Southeast Asia. It is distributed throughout the globe: there are colonies in the south of Europe, and in the north of the African continent, and in the west of Transcaucasia.
boxwood tree
This is one of the most ancient plants that is grown for decorative purposes. In another way they call the box (from the Latin "buxus"), green tree, gevan or bukshan. There is also the name shamshit.
It is believed that boxwood appeared about 30 million years ago and has come down to our days with virtually no evolutionary changes. Bux in natural conditions grows in the form of trees, which rarely reach a length of more than 10-12 meters. Some specimens live more than 500 years.
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- Leaves leathery, opposite, elliptical in shape. Young leaves have a greenish-olive tint, becoming woody and brown with age.
- blooms only adult boxwood at the age of 15–20 years with small flowers, unisexual, collected in inflorescences. During the flowering period, the plant exudes a very intense aroma.
- Fruit greengreen trees look like a small spherical box filled with black seeds. As the fruit ripens, it opens, shooting seeds into the ground.
Even rings are made from axle wood
Buxus can grow in conditions of one hundredth of the illumination of the required. This is one of the most shade-tolerant trees. In ancient times, the tree was considered precious for the similarity of wood to amber.
Boxwood is also called an iron tree because of its weight: the trunks of mature trees even sink in water. Household items of special strength are made from the wood of the bush: canes, looms, chess pieces, measuring instruments, caskets, musical instruments.
Boxwood, as a valuable wood species, is mentioned in Homer's Iliad, myths and legends of Ancient Rome, folklore works of the Georgian people.
Contains alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids and coumarins. The bark and leaves are used in folk medicine as a laxative and diaphoretic.
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Species and varieties
There are many types of plants, about 30 in total, but not all of them are decorative. The most famous varieties of buxus are evergreen, Colchis, small-leaved and Balearic.
Boxwood evergreen (Caucasian palm)
Evergreen boxwood is more often than other varieties used in landscape design
In its natural habitat (the Caucasus, the Mediterranean) it has the shape of a tree about 12–15 meters high, less often a shrub. Grows in the undergrowth of deciduous forests. Most often this species is used in horticulture and landscape design. In open ground conditions, without pruning, it can reach a maximum height of 3 m.
The leaves of this species are elongated, 1.5 to 3 cm long, shiny, devoid of fluffiness, opposite, practically without petioles. The flowers are small, greenish.
The most popular varieties:
- Suffruticosis (ideal for hedges and borders)
- Blauer Heinz (relatively new variety, perfect for planting in the form of carpets)
- elegans (highly drought tolerant)
small-leaved
When ripe, box boxes are opened with flaps and seeds are thrown out
Dwarf shrub, its maximum height rarely exceeds 1.5 m. The leaves are also very small - from 1.5 to 2.5 cm. It is highly frost-resistant - it can survive cold temperatures of -30 degrees, but is very sensitive to early spring sunlight.
A distinctive feature is the compact shape and decorative crown. Considered a Japanese or Korean descendant of Buxus, it is also common in Taiwan. Popular varieties: Winter Jam (fast growing) Faulkner (with a natural spherical shape of the crown).
Balearic
Boxwood Balearic
The largest representative of the Samshitov family. The name was given to the source of distribution - the Balearic Islands in Spain, grows mainly in the Mediterranean.
This variety has the largest leaves - from 3 to 4 cm long and 2-2.5 cm wide. It grows faster than its counterparts, but is not at all adapted to a cold climate. Needs constantly moist soil and thrives in direct sunlight for several hours a day.
Colchis
The population of Colchis bush in the Russian Federation is protected by the state
A slow growing shrub, it is a relic plant of the Tertiary period. It is listed in the Red Book of Russia, distributed in the highlands of Asia Minor and Transcaucasia.
Compared to other species, it has the smallest leaves (only 1–3 cm long lanceolate), the highest level of frost resistance and a long lifespan.
It reaches a height of 15–20 m and more than 25 cm in trunk diameter.
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Planting and plant care
Boxwood is an unpretentious plant, easy both to plant and to care for. It can survive in indirect sunlight, and in conditions of lack of watering and nutrients in the soil.
When choosing a seedling, you need to pay attention to the color (ideally juicy green), the condition of the leaves and shoots.
Soil Requirements
The ideal growing medium for boxwood is clayey, permeable soil with a high lime content. Soil moisture is a key factor in good rooting of axle box. In heavy and excessively saline soils will not be accepted.
Bukshan will actively grow and develop in a kidney with an acidity of 5.5–6
Boxwood does not like wetlands or places where water stagnates. Slightly acidic or neutral soils are an excellent environment for rooting and growth of shrubs.
Homemade soil, collected from deciduous and coniferous soil in a ratio of 2 to 1 and 1 part of sand, is also suitable. Birch charcoal is added as a nutrient component to the mixture.
Disembarkation time
September is the best month for planting shrubs in open ground
It is better to plant bukshan in autumn, a month before the onset of cold weather - in September or early October, so that the plant can take root in a month.
Best of all, it will be taken in a dark place where the sun's rays do not fall.
Planting process
It is better to start preparing the plant for planting a day in advance. It is necessary to water the shrub with a closed root system abundantly in order to facilitate the extraction of the seedling from the container without destroying the earthen clod. It is possible to completely place the roots of the planted shrub in the water for 24 hours.
A pit for planting is dug out with a size three times the volume of an earthen ball of box. A drainage layer of perlite or expanded clay 3-4 cm thick is laid out at the bottom to remove excess moisture. The seedling is placed in the hole strictly vertically, the roots are carefully leveled.
Planting in the open ground of the axle box begins with the preparatory stage - soaking the roots
Cover the shrub with a mixture of earth and perlite in equal proportions. The soil under the boxwood is compacted to remove voids in the soil layer. Then the seedling is watered not too abundantly, on average, half a bucket of settled rain water per 20-centimeter bush.
The ground around the trunk is advised to cover with a thin layer of perlite. Repeated watering of a newly planted shrub is carried out no earlier than a week later in the absence of rain.
Disembarkation order
For planting in one row in the form of a hedge, 4–5 shrubs are planted at a distance of 25–30 cm. If it is necessary to form a low border or carpet composition on the site, then 10–12 boxwood bushes are planted at a right angle in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 15–20 between the trunks.
Bush hedge usually consists of 4-5 plants
Experienced landscape designers use trees 10-15 cm above the projected height for planting, to form the desired shape of the crown already in place. This immediately ensures the same height, and planting density, and its survival.
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plant care
Boxwood grows very slowly: in a year, the plant rarely adds more than 1 mm in trunk diameter, and only 5-7 cm in height. But such slowness is more than offset by the decorative characteristics of the shrub. Caring for him is easy even for beginner gardeners.
Watering
The plant does not need abundant watering - an average of 5-7 liters of water is spent per meter shrub. Watering is carried out in the non-hot time of the day - in the morning or in the evening. In a dry climate or under high-temperature weather conditions, the plant is watered more abundantly, but not more than 1 time per week.
In summer, shrubs are watered no more often than in winter, but more abundantly.
From time to time, the plant is advised to carry out water cleaning procedures - to wash off the dust from the foliage with water. After moistening, the soil under the trunk must be loosened and weeds removed. Before the start of the summer season, gardeners are advised to mulch the trunk circle with a layer of peat 5–7 cm thick.
top dressing
The first top dressing is carried out only a month after planting the shrub, since the fertilizer will benefit only the plant that is firmly rooted in the soil. If ash and compost were introduced into the soil during planting, then the fertilizer is postponed for at least another six months.
Nitrogen fertilizers (they weaken the winter hardiness of the shrub), as well as complex mixtures of minerals, are introduced into the soil during the period of active bush growth - in spring and in the first half of summer.
Books are not fed with nitrogenous fertilizers in autumn because of the danger of freezing of young shoots.
In autumn, buxus is fed with potassium chloride and phosphorus-containing preparations, as a rule, superphosphate. Once every three years, the shrub is advised to fertilize with organic matter - manure or compost.
Magnesium is considered a useful trace element for the health of boxwood. Studies have proven a direct dependence of the lack of this substance in the soil with the appearance of yellow spots on the foliage of the plant.
Pruning and crown shaping
The first pruning can be carried out only in the second year of the plant's life. For these purposes, sharp garden shears with short blades are used. Be sure to use clean tools when pruning - this reduces the risk of infection.
The axle box is cut off most often late spring: end of April - beginning of May. The shrub is ideal for decorative pruning - from the third year of its life, the crown can be given any shape: from geometric to intricate and fantasy. The most popular figures are a cone, a sphere or a cube.
Pruning the axle box will not only give the plant shape, but also make it thicker.
In this case, only young shoots are pruned, old branches are cut only when the plant has completely lost its shape. Experts recommend updating every month, especially since you don’t need to make much effort for this - once you choose a form, you just need to maintain it regularly.
After such a procedure, the shrub becomes thicker, but at the same time requires more abundant watering to compensate for the loss of nutrients. In hot and dry weather, pruning should not be carried out - this can lead to foliage burns. The best time for manipulation is in the evening hours or in the morning in cloudy weather.
Transfer
Transplantation, unlike rooting, is best done in the spring - so the plant is better prepared for winter. If the plant is an adult, you need to transplant it to another place along with an earthen clod. In this case, the actions during transplantation must be performed the same as during the initial planting of a seedling.
Bux tolerates the transplant painlessly and does not even stop growing
The green tree is a fairly strong garden culture; in adulthood, it painlessly endures the “move” to a new place. Subject to the competent actions of the gardener, it continues to grow immediately after transplantation.
If the seedling was bought late in the fall, then it is not recommended to plant it before winter. It is better to dig a shrub in a shady place and cover with a shading net. It is important to prevent icing of the tree.
Caring for plants in tubs
The larger the pot, the slower the boxwood will grow. Watering plants that grow in confined spaces, in hot climates or in dry weather should be done daily.
Shrub in tubs needs special care due to the cramped position of the roots and the small volume of soil
To feed plants in slides, tubs, flowerpots, special liquid fertilizers are used, which are added to the water for irrigation once every 10-12 days. If the foliage of the buxus turns red, then nitrogenous fertilizer must be added to the soil.
For the winter, a pot with a green tree is placed in a container of a larger diameter, and the space between the containers is filled with bark. Both tubs are placed on blocks to avoid contact with the soil.
Features of care in the fall
Despite all the durability and unpretentiousness of the green tree, preparing for the cold is perhaps the most important part of caring for it. You need to start the procedures in late autumn - in early November.
Preparing the plant for winter begins with abundant watering.
The first thing to do is to water the shrub abundantly, providing its root system with moisture for the cold months. Next, the trunk area is mulched with peat or rotted needles. It is important to ensure that the mulch does not touch the trunk.
Shelter for the winter
In the cold season, when sub-zero temperatures prevail, it is advised to cover young tender shoots of boxwood with burlap or non-woven fabric to maintain a viable microclimate.
To prevent the shelter from being blown away by the wind during the winter, it is covered with twine or ropes. When sheltering hedges, the edges of the canvas are sprinkled with earth. Boxwood bushes for the winter are tied before sheltering so that large volumes of snow do not break fragile branches.
For the winter, it is better to tie and cover the bush
It is not recommended to use the film as a coating - condensation forms under it, excessive humidity and high temperature. After removing the polyethylene, a sharp temperature drop occurs, from which the plant may even die.
As a heater, you can use wood shavings or straw, as well as fallen leaves. A frame is formed around the bush from wooden slats 20 cm higher than the plant, filled with heat-retaining materials over the foliage and covered with roofing material.
In the spring, the structure is dismantled, and the straw or shavings are shaken off shrub. But this should not be done immediately, because the plant gradually gets used to the bright sunlight. In the first few weeks of spring, a layer of burlap and mulch can be left on the bushes, artificially creating a slight darkening.
Content in the apartment
As an ornamental plant in an apartment, the buxus also feels great due to its unpretentiousness and compactness. For floriculture at home, species such as evergreen, small-leaved and Balearic boxwood are chosen.
Ornamental shrubs can also be grown in an apartment, the main thing is to choose a dark place for it.
You need to place the pot with the plant in a moderately lit place with a constantly maintained temperature and humidity. The soil around the trunk should be overlaid with pebbles or moss, and the plant is not plentiful, but regularly watered and sprayed.
How to form a stem tree from a box
For decorative purposes, very beautiful standard trees in pots and tubs are obtained from boxwood, which serve as a decoration for the garden. site or terraces. A bare long trunk that ends in a spreading crown of identical small leaves - this shape will appeal to all lovers landscape design. Moreover, creating this beauty yourself is quite simple.
The buxus stem tree looks very unusual
To form such a shape when growing boxwood, you must follow these instructions:
For the winter, standard trees are completely wrapped in non-woven material. If the stem has a whitewashed trunk, then only the crown can be covered.
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Boxwood can be propagated in several ways
Most often, the green tree is propagated vegetatively, but growing boxwood from seeds is also quite realistic. Which method to choose, the gardener must decide based on the desire and ability to devote enough time and effort to the plant.
seed
For 24 hours they are soaked in a solution of growth preparations - Epin or Zircon in water. Then the seeds are germinated by placing them between two layers of damp cloth or gauze for 30-35 days. You need to moisten the rags regularly, then white seedlings will appear from the seeds.
Buxus grows well from seeds
If sprouts do not appear after a specified period, you can speed up this process by arranging a “shock therapy” for seeds. To do this, the fabric with them from a warm room is placed for two days in the lower compartment of the refrigerator, and then again returned to favorable conditions.
Sprouted seeds are sown in a container filled with a mixture of sand and peat in equal proportions with sprouts in the ground. From above, the soil is covered with glass or tightened with a film to create a greenhouse effect. Within 15–20 days, under favorable conditions (a warm, dark place), the first shoots will appear, the film or glass is removed.
Feeding is applied to the soil in a small amount, watered regularly, and seedlings are planted in open ground in the spring, when the risk of returning night frosts is gone.
cuttings
The green tree is best propagated by cuttings. For seating, the branches left after pruning are used. You can cut cuttings at any time of the year, but it is best to do this with July to March Young shoots cut from April to June are too tender and need to be shaded from the sun.
Cuttings of a green tree are the easiest and most reliable way to propagate a relic shrub.
To reproduce in this way, you must perform the following steps:
Rooting of cuttings occurs within 1-2 months, then they, together with an earthen clod, can be transplanted or planted in open ground. Planted branches should be sprayed and watered every other day.
layering
Rooted layers are separated from the mother shrub and planted elsewhere.
A fairly simple but effective way to get a new shrub. For such reproduction, a healthy lateral branch of boxwood is bent to the ground, dug in and watered, fed in the same way as the mother plant.
When the layering takes root, it is separated from the native bush, dug out together with an earthen clod and transplanted to another place.
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diseased boxwood
Buxus has quite a lot of natural pests, which cause severe damage to the plant. The shrub is also easily susceptible to fungal diseases and, without timely treatment, may even die.
Dangerous insect pests
The main danger for the green tree is the box midge, which is also called the mining fly. The insect lays eggs in the young leaves of new shoots in early summer.
Orange small larvae, eating into the tissues of the leaves, pupate and overwinter in the plant. In May, the pupae hatch into adults, which again infect the bush.
Boxwood moth is a dangerous pest, because of which the plant dies
A plant affected by gall midge turns yellow, dries, loses leaves, swollen galls filled with larvae form in the affected areas.The treatment against the mining fly is carried out using the preparations Bitoksibacellin, Aktara and Karbofos-500 with a frequency of 1 time in 10 days.
Other pests of boxwood and ways to deal with them are presented in the table.
| Name of the pest | Signs of defeat | How to fight |
|---|---|---|
| felter | Withering of young shoots, the appearance of blisters on the foliage | Treatment with Tagore, Fufanon |
| spider mite | The appearance of a thin web | The use of insecticides Karbofos, Aktara |
| boxwood flea | Whitish coating, stickiness of foliage, its bending | Foliage removal, mineral oil treatment |
| boxwood moth | Caterpillars entangle axle boxes with whitish and loose cobwebs | Foliage treatment with Fastak and Fury |
Box orderlies
Despite the large number of pests that parasitize the green tree, there are also paramedical insects that help maintain the health of the buxus.
Ladybug protects bushes from insect pests aphids and scale insects
The main assistants are collected in the table.
| beneficial insect | Who helps fight | How to attract to the garden |
|---|---|---|
| predatory mite | spider mite | Sow mustard, dill, nectarifers |
| ladybug | Shchitovka, aphid | Carefully rake fallen leaves, which serve as a shelter for insects for the winter |
| Flörnitz | Aphid | Also hibernates in fallen leaves. |
| hoverfly | Aphid | Sow parsley, cumin and cilantro |
| Earwig | Aphids, fungus spores | Sits in dark places and under rocks |
For many beneficial insects, you can create a shelter in the garden for the winter by hanging a container filled with straw from a tree branch. In the spring, the contents are changed and filled with fresh grass.
What causes bux
A healthy plant has rich green leaves.
Among the diseases that affect the green tree, the greatest danger is:
- Fungal disease. It is characterized by the appearance of orange spots on the foliage. You can cure a plant only by removing the affected shoots completely. Yellowed leaves are taken out of the garden and burned.
- Shoot necrosis. With this disease, the ends of the branches die off, and spots appear on the foliage. Treatment is carried out by repeated treatment with fungicide preparations.
- Boxwood cancer. It is necessary to carry out a total pruning of the affected areas, capturing healthy cuttings. The cut sites should be treated with Fundazol.
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V landscape design green tree is widely used: in warm climates - as borders and hedges, everywhere - to create mixborders, alpine slides and rockeries.
Buxus is also used in the formation of living green walls, filling the space between stone paths, or as a border for garden paths.
Buxus is widespread in landscape design and is used to create the most bizarre forms of hedges.
Bux goes well with other plants, for example, geyheroy, barberry, cistus, lilac, jasmine, airom. It will perfectly complement the area near the reservoir, act as a backdrop for flowering crops and create a focal point in any landscape composition.
Boxwood is an unpretentious ornamental plant resistant to adverse conditions, which, with its discreet appearance and compact forms, has earned the love of many gardeners and flower growers. Without it, it is impossible to imagine urban flower beds and parks, and grown in your own garden, this tree can become a real source of family pride.
Features of boxwood. Care, how to properly plant and grow it
Boxwood: description, types and varieties, planting in the open field and caring for shrubs, use in landscape design (85+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews
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