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When to trim boxwoods bushes


Pruning Boxwood Shrubs And The Best Time To Trim Boxwoods

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Boxwoods

By: Jackie Rhoades

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Introduced to America in 1652, boxwood shrubs have been gracing gardens since colonial times. Members of the genus Buxus include about thirty species and 160 cultivars, including Buxus sempervirens, the common American boxwood. The varieties are largely based on leaf size and growth which can range from one foot tall to twenty (.5-6 m.).

Boxwoods have fallen out of favor with some gardeners in recent years. They are the gardeners that remember trimming boxwood bushes into severe and often geometric shapes that have no place in the more casual gardens of today. They also remember how much time and effort it took to keep them in formal rigidity.

And that, my friends, is a shame.

Trimming Boxwood Bushes

Boxwood bushes have an undeserved reputation and should be a welcome addition to the modern landscape. When the right cultivar is chosen, they need very little pruning. Boxwood is easy to grow and thrives under many conditions that would defeat a less sturdy plant. Their compact evergreen leaves add texture and form to the garden when all else falls to winter’s sleep. Used as a hedge, nothing provides a better screen against an unsightly view.

That said, these handy evergreens do need occasional pruning. Boxwood, like most shrubs, needs a cleaning out of dead or twisted branches that can be harmful to the bush. Even when chosen for a particular size or shape, an errant branch or twig may need trimming. Boxwood bushes simply don’t need much care when compared to other landscape shrubs.

How and When to Prune Boxwoods

As with all shrubs, you should be asking when the best time to trim boxwoods might be and when should you prune. Boxwoods can be trimmed at any time of year, but, for plant health, it’s best to avoid shearing in the late fall. The new growth that appears after trimming boxwood bushes may not have time to harden off before frost.

Shearing or trimming may be done with hand shears or with electric hedge clippers. It is the removal of all or most of the most recent growth. Plant age should be taken into account when deciding when to prune boxwoods. Young plants actually benefit from frequent shearing. The best time to trim boxwoods to shape is during the first few years. This will encourage branching and new growth, which will result in denser growth and defined shape. But, don’t overdo it.

Excessive shearing can produce growth so dense on the outside of your shrub that it will prevent light from reaching the center of the bush and leave the inner branches bare.

Removal of larger branches or pruning boxwoods is used to remove diseased or dying branches or to refurbish plants that are past their prime. Beware! Severely pruning boxwoods can kill the shrub. It’s best to take such drastic measures in stages, over several years if necessary, to give your boxwood shrubs the best opportunity to survive.

One last note: if you don’t mind a little extra work, boxwood shrubs make excellent topiaries. Topiaries are living garden statuary and can be molded into any shape your imagination can envision. They can range from one to two feet (.5 m.) high to ten feet (3 m.) high. Depending on the size and shape of your frame, you may need more than one plant to fill the form.

The best time to trim boxwoods used in topiaries is in the spring before new growth begins. Train smaller branches to conform to the structure and prune larger branches to prevent them from growing toward the outside of the form. As the seasons pass, your boxwood shrubs will take on the shape of the structure and you will have a unique conversation piece and interesting focal point for your garden.

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When to trim boxwood bushes |

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Wondering about when to trim boxwood bushes? Pruning boxwoods keeps them in shape whether they’re grown as hedging, or clipped into geometric shapes.

Trimming boxwood bushes also encourages healthy growth of what many consider one of the best evergreen shrubs and should be carried out annually whether they’re newer additions to the backyard or more established features of the design. 

Here, we look at when to trim boxwood bushes so they thrive and bring the shape and structure desired to the yard.

When to trim boxwood bushes

While boxwood isn’t among the best fast growing hedges, it’s nevertheless important to maintain it by trimming. While boxwoods can, in theory, be clipped at any time of the year, doing so in fall doesn’t allow new growth to harden off before winter. 

Bear in mind when trimming boxwood bushes that you should always take care to sanitize tools, disinfecting them before and after the task to minimize the likelihood of spreading disease.

This is when to trim boxwood bushes.  

Trim boxwood bushes in spring

Trimming boxwoods into shape is best undertaken in the spring. But there is an exception. ‘Trimming stray branches and thinning cuts can be done anytime during the growing season,’ say the experts at the Chicago Botanic Garden .

Trimming boxwoods in spring before they begin to flush will remove old winter color and any burned tips. Trimming at this time of year ensures new growth will appear soon and stimulates it, too. ‘Doing so in this time frame also minimizes the risk of the plant being affected by diseases,’ says expert Charles King Sadler in a tutorial for the European Boxwood & Topiary Society (EBTS).

Later trimming for boxwood bushes

If you want to shape boxwood because you’re growing it as topiary, mature plants can be trimmed after the spring flush. Be mindful, however, that the growth that results could be damaged by early frosts.

When to trim boxwoods according to their age

Trimming young boxwood plants in spring will encourage bushy growth during the first few years of growth, so it’s worth scheduling trimming into your diary for these shrubs.  

Older boxwood plants that have been neglected can be pruned hard in spring. However, it’s important to do this in stages over several years, as pruning more radically can jeopardize the plant’s health. 

If you’re planting boxwood, always bear in mind the characteristics of the cultivar and whether it’s compact, upright or spreading to avoid the need to trim excessively.

How late in the season can you prune boxwoods?

‘The latest time for you to trim your boxwoods is during late spring,’ says Joe Taylor founder of home improvement and garden publication PlumbJoe . 

‘Trimming during this period will allow the tips of your boxwood bushes to fully harden off before winter. Every time you trim your boxwood, new growth appears. The growth will need time to grow and get stronger to prepare itself for colder temperatures.’

Trimming boxwoods promotes growth. ‘Pruning your boxwoods helps them maintain their shape. It also helps promote new and healthier growth,’ explains Joe Taylor. ‘Boxwood bushes will continuously grow, however, at times, an overgrowth can cause the plant to become unhealthy. Trimming will help you cut off any dead branches and leaves, providing more room for the new growth to blossom.’

Sarah is a freelance journalist and editor. Previously executive editor of Ideal Home, she’s specialized in interiors, property and gardens for over 20 years, and covers interior design, house design, gardens, and cleaning and organizing a home for H&G. She’s written for websites, including Houzz, Channel 4’s flagship website, 4Homes, and Future’s T3; national newspapers, including The Guardian; and magazines including Future’s Country Homes & Interiors, Homebuilding & Renovating, Period Living, and Style at Home, as well as House Beautiful, Good Homes, Grand Designs, Homes & Antiques, LandLove and The English Home among others. It’s no big surprise that she likes to put what she writes about into practice, and is a serial house renovator. 

90,000 haircut and formation in the fall, spring, video

Content

The Latin name of 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 should be cut 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 have been made from it. Boxwood was also appreciated by landscape designers. Specially bred weeping and dwarf species can turn any garden into a fabulous corner. But for this you need to carry out regular pruning.

On the video you can see boxwood curly haircut:

Boxwood in landscaping

With proper care, the shrub can live up to 500 years. Its compact rounded crown will become pliable clay in the hands of both the professional and the novice gardener. Different types of boxwood have their own decorative value.

All varieties respond well to pruning. By cutting the branches correctly, you can form regular geometric shapes from the crown: a pyramid, a ball, a cone, and others. Boxwood can be given absolutely any shape. From undersized species, you can create borders and original parterres, they are also used to frame flower beds. Any flower arrangements against the background of sheared boxwood will look advantageous.

Attention! Tall shrubs make ideal hedges. Boxwood plantings will mask some of the objects on the site. For example, a compost pit or trash cans.

Buxus is often used as a background for other plants. It has a beautiful and deep leaf color. This noble shrub is ideally combined with bulldenezh, barberry, roses, geyheyra, lilac. To achieve an original contrast, it is better to select flowering plants with brightly colored petals.

The most popular varieties of boxwood include:

  1. Aureovariegata. It has elongated ovate leaves that change color: a green tint is mixed with yellow over time. Bushes of this boxwood are resistant to drought and frost, and can grow in some shade.
  2. 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.
  3. Marginata. It has beautiful oblong leaves. Each has a delicate border of pistachio color. Boxwood of this variety grows from 2 to 4 m high.
  4. Curly Locks. Intricately curved stems and leaves give this variety of boxwood a special decorative effect. Great option for a walkway or flower bed.
  5. Latifoliamaculata. The maximum height is 1.5 m. The leaves of this boxwood look like chameleons: the young ones have a golden hue, and the lower ones, as they mature, acquire more saturated green tones.

When to cut the boxwood

You can cut the boxwood at home only after two years. During this time, the bush will have time to fully take root and grow stronger. If undersized boxwood (about 25-30 cm) was planted in the form of a border, then a small pruning can be done after a couple of weeks, carefully removing the top, but no more than 5-10 cm.

In the southern regions, the first pruning can be start in April. If the climate is not too favorable, you should wait for stable heat and reschedule the procedure for May. Boxwood is a slow growing shrub. In most cases, a small amount of corrective pruning of the new growth will suffice. Only heavily neglected and shapeless branches are cut to old wood. A month later, it will again be necessary to prune the protruding branches.

Decorative pruning of boxwood is carried out in spring, summer and autumn. For this, an evening of a cloudy day is usually chosen. Under the influence of the sun, burns appear on the leaves. But young plants, that is, with a rare crown, are not afraid of even the summer heat.

Boxwood pruning in spring

Boxwood is sheared in spring before active growth begins. Start cutting from the top, gradually moving down. Small branches are cut on top, they should not disturb the harmonious shape of the shrub. As for the large branches of boxwood, their pruning is done so that they cannot grow young shoots inside the shrub. This makes the buxus untidy.

Regular pruning of bushes is the key to their lush and beautiful crown. After that, the plants should pay more attention, regularly watering and feeding them.

Pruning boxwood in autumn

By the middle of summer, the growth of boxwood stops. However, the movement of juices inside the shoots does not completely stop. Therefore, the active phase of growth will resume again. Shearing boxwood in the fall falls on 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 come. Now you need to prune the young shoots to stimulate their growth next spring. It is enough to remove only 2 cm.

Attention! To make the basal shoots of boxwood branched, pruning is carried out to the 3rd young bud. If branching is not included in the plans, then only up to the 2nd kidney.

The boxwood is then prepared for the winter. The first step is to replace the mulch. The summer version (leaves + grass) will begin to rot quickly. If the bush is not standard, rotting will quickly spread to branches and leaves. Spruce branches and peat will help protect the roots from the cold. The winter sun is a threat to the crown.

Under its rays, shoots resume growth. At the same time, the roots remain in the cold ground and do not deliver nutrients to the leaves. Gradually, they begin to fade. Buxus is covered with a breathable dark material - a piece of cloth or burlap.

Boxwood shears

There are different tools for trimming shrubs, each with a different purpose. The final choice of inventory 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:

  1. Cordless brush cutter. Indispensable for the formation of hedges. The tool is lightweight and easy to use. With its help, the crown can only be given a rectangular shape.
  2. Bush shears. The long steel handles have plastic or nylon inserts for added comfort. With the help of short sharp blades, bushes can be given different shapes. It is quite convenient to cut them.
  3. Battery clippers. They are designed for cutting hard branches of boxwood. In this tool, several pairs of scissors are combined at the same time, which are driven by a battery.
  4. Sheep shears. They cut soft twigs near the boxwood that did not have time to become stiff. Also with their help it is easy to adjust the contours of the crown. The tool is made from a single piece of metal, and the handle is shaped like a heart.
  5. Secateurs. With its help, overgrown bushes are thinned out, not too thick branches and shoots are pruned. The design has two blades: one is a support blade, and the other is a working one. They are bent in a semicircle. With the help of a pruner, a hedge, bushes and borders are formed.

How to cut boxwood

Frequent pruning of buxus requires more fertilizing and watering. This will allow the plant to replenish lost nutrients more quickly. Otherwise, the box will begin to lose foliage.

How to cut boxwood with a ball

The easiest way is to use a homemade or purchased blank. 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, giving the shape of a cube, and then cut off the tops, turning the crown into a semicircle.

Another way to form a boxwood on a bole is to trim the side shoots at the base, focusing on the future rounding from below, and then round the top and sides until the crown acquires the desired shape.

Curly haircut boxwood

The main rule of such pruning is to work from the inside out, from top to bottom. The crown is trimmed evenly, in stages and in small parts. It is impossible to cut a large fragment in one area; when creating a figure, it is necessary to observe proportions.

Boxwood figures:

  1. Cub. To form this figure, you will need one or more bushes with a dense crown and dense branches. The whole composition should look organic. To get cubic boxwood, you need to plant one plant in the center, and place the rest in a square next to it. With the help of wooden slats, it is necessary to make the frame of the future cube and trim along it.
  2. Pyramid. Around the shrub you need to draw a circle or square. Along the perimeter, slats are immersed in the ground, which must be fastened at the top with a rope. On this blank, boxwood is sheared in the shape of a pyramid.
  3. Cone. The principle is about the same. The slats are fastened with a rope and the branches are cut strictly along them, moving from the bottom to the top.
  4. Spiral. First make a cone or pyramid. Then the bush is wrapped with colored tape. It imitates the future spiral. In advance, you need to decide on the number of turns and the distance between them. Pruning branches with secateurs is carried out strictly along the contour of the adhesive tape.

How to form a boxwood hedge

Young bushes are cut equally at first. 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 fairly branched. In such a hedge there will be no voids and holes, bare lower branches and too thick tops. Such combinations do not look aesthetically pleasing. For one summer season, at least 3-4 such prunings should be carried out. Then the annual growth of the bush will be from 15 to 20 cm. The last pruning is carried out in the last days of August. This will allow the young shoots to mature before the cold weather.

Boxwood Formation Features

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 break into the center. The inner branches remain bare.

When pruning a bush, it gradually narrows from the base to the top. So all the branches will be evenly illuminated by the sun. Dead or diseased branches should not be radically cut immediately. It is better to divide the procedure into several stages so as not to destroy the plant.

A special grid will help create beautiful and perfectly even borders. It is put on over the bushes and only those shoots that stick out through it are removed.

Boxwood leaves and twigs contain toxic alkaloids. Any manipulations with the plant should be carried out only with thick gloves.

Conclusion

Trimming boxwood beautifully is a true art. You can entrust garden care to a professional or take the initiative into your own hands. Gradually, you can learn all the tricks of decorative pruning. This is a very exciting activity. From an ordinary bush, real living sculptures and labyrinths are obtained. 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.

10 tips for caring for boxwood

Beautiful patterned parterres, borders and figurines made of boxwood are not the work of sorcerers or wizards. Of course, it is naive to believe that everyone can create intricate figures or entire compositions from boxwood, barely picking up garden shears. But if you follow our advice, then every lover will be able to grow this southern evergreen shrub in the garden.

1. Making the border of the flower bed

Low bushes of boxwood for framing flowerbeds or flowerbeds are most often sold in containers or with bare roots in small bunches. The best time to plant boxwood is spring. Immerse the roots of the seedlings in a bucket of water. In the meantime, dig deep into the soil and add compost if necessary. Then, with the help of a cord, mark the outlines of the border and lay out the seedlings along. With a seedling height of 10-15 cm, you will need about 10 copies per meter. Plant the plants in well loosened soil using a planting trowel. The boxwood border should be watered and trimmed with garden shears by one third. Until the plants are finally rooted, the soil should be constantly moist. In early June, you should start fertilizing.

For large boxwood ornaments, first a draft design is drawn up, then it is transferred to nature using a measuring tape and goniometric tools

2. The best varieties for different purposes

, shape and color of leaves. While slow-growing varieties like 'Suffruticosa' or hardy 'Blauer Heinz' are best suited for low borders, wild boxwood evergreen (Buxus sempervirens) or strong-growing varieties like 'Rotundifolia' are best suited for taller hedges. and 'Handsworthiensis'.

Boxwood varieties are chosen in the same way for creating sheared shapes and figures: ‘Suffruticosa’ or ‘Green Gem’ are suitable for small balls, larger figures are obtained respectively from tall varieties. Variegated varieties of boxwood, such as 'Elegantissima', are frost-sensitive and should only be planted in well-protected areas.

For tall boxwood sculptures use vigorous varieties

3.

Frost damage: prevention is the best protection

Boxwood, like all evergreens, suffers from the winter cold. The plant tolerates clear frosty weather especially poorly, since in such conditions its leaves dry out very quickly. By covering the plants with shading nets, you can only prevent the worst - death, but this is not an option for long boxwood hedges and borders. To protect boxwood trees from frost damage, it is best to plant them in semi-shaded areas in the first place. An important role is played by the correct choice of variety, which should have good winter hardiness. Among these varieties, mention should be made of ‘Blauer Heinz’, ‘Handsworthiensis’ and ‘Herrenhausen’. Top dressing of boxwood in September with potash fertilizers, for example, potassium magnesia, contributes to the speedy lignification, thereby increasing the winter hardiness of shoots and leaves.

Like all evergreens, boxwood also suffers from winter cold

4.

When and how often to prune

The basic rule is: the more often the better. Boxwood is regularly sheared every four weeks. Vigorous varieties will only be truly thick and lush if they are trimmed more than once a year. The plant is sheared during the period of its active growth - from April to September. It does not make sense to cut boxwood during the dormant period, since it is already growing slowly. And one more thing: the more often you cut boxwood trees, the better they should be watered and fertilized to make up for the loss of essential nutrients, as a result of which the plants lose leaves.

Boxwood needs to be cut several times a year

5. Ideal tool

Cordless brush cutter: It is convenient to cut boxwood bushes with a cordless brush cutter, but it is not worth buying to form two or three boxwood balls. For beginners in this business, it is better to use mechanical scissors, since an electric tool can also cut off excess.

Special boxwood shears: Special boxwood shears with short blades are ideal for creating the simplest figures. The blades of the scissors must be sharp, otherwise they will slide off the hard lignified shoots.

Sheep shears: The classic sheep shears are also excellent for cutting soft, slightly woody shoots. This is a good tool for regular cutting, because it is convenient for them to handle the contours of figures.

6. Trimming methods: the perfect boxwood ball

Anyone who wants to get a beautiful boxwood ball without any special tools at hand can do the following: a horizontal “equator” and four vertical “meridians” are cut out on a spherical crown. If these paths turned out to be evenly rounded, then it will be very easy to trim the branches in the remaining sections. It's a good idea to use a cardboard template: first, measure the diameter of the boxwood ball with an inch ruler. Then a cord is attached to the felt-tip pen, its length should be equal to half the diameter of the ball. Thumb and forefinger pinch the measured length of the cord and hold it exactly along the edge of the cardboard. Then, with the other end, on which the felt-tip pen is attached, a semicircle is circled from one edge of the cardboard to the other, cut out - the template is ready. The template is applied to the forming crown of the boxwood and all branches protruding beyond it are cut off. Specialized stores sell special metal templates for shaping boxwood trees.

A uniform ball of boxwood can be created very quickly with a cardboard template.

7. Location and soil

Boxwood grows best in clay soils containing lime. Mature compost must be added to sandy soil. The soil must be permeable and moist, without stagnant water. Boxwood is not picky about lighting. It tolerates shade well. It is more difficult for a plant in a hot place with direct sun, for example, near a wall directed to the south. In this case, the boxwood is quickly damaged by its green leaves.

Boxwood prefers nutrient-rich soil.

8. Propagation: large plants in a short period

Boxwood cuttings take root and grow rather slowly but surely. If you want to get large plants in a very short period, choose cuttings at least 20-30 cm long. Shoots take root very well, which are broken off from the mother plant in July / August and a thin strip of bark is removed at the break point with a sharp knife. All shoots on the handle are shortened by about one third. Many gardeners believe that for rooting, the cutting should be covered with a film. This is optional. It is enough to plant it in loose, humus-rich, clay soil in a semi-shaded, protected place. Professionals cover the area with a black film before planting, which inhibits the growth of weeds and prevents the soil from drying out.

Boxwood cuttings can be planted directly on the garden bed

9. Winter protection of tub boxwood

If a boxwood tree grows in a pot, its roots must be protected from frost for the winter.

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