Caring for boxwood: cutting, fertilizing & more

The boxwood is actually quite easy to care for. Just a little fertilizer and care are enough to enjoy the evergreen splendor.

Of the Boxwood (Buxus) is in principle an uncomplicated ornamental wood. Due to its special features, there are still a few things to consider when it comes to care. For its evergreen foliage and very hard, high-quality wood, the beech needs a good supply of nutrients through a fertilizer, despite its slow growth. Its water requirement also needs to be met in winter, and regular pruning also guarantees compact and dense growth. Last but not least, it is important to recognize the possible diseases and pests of the book and to contain them. How exactly you should go about doing all of this can be found in the following article.

If we give the book the right care, it will thank us with health and dark green foliage. There are a few simple rules that we have put together for you below.

Fertilize boxwood

In general, it is completely sufficient to provide your boxwood with fertilizer twice a year. In the spring from the beginning of the growing season in April, nitrogen-based fertilization should be used. In autumn you should use a more potassium-based fertilizer to prepare the Buchs for winter and the cold temperatures. Fertilizers with organic long-term effects such as our Plantura are ideal here Organic universal fertilizer. Due to its granulate form, it can be easily worked into the soil, provides nutrients over the long term and is also completely harmless to humans and animals.

More detailed information on the Fertilizing your boxwood can also be found here in our special article.

Water the boxwood

The boxwood can cope with short dry episodes. However, the drought shouldn't last too long, because the Buchs feel most comfortable on fresh soil. The many small leaves of a box tree also form a large surface for evaporation. The top priority when watering is to keep the above-ground parts of the plant dry, because moisture creates the leaves the breeding ground for some pathogens, and the dense growth in trees with topiary makes the foliage worse dries. As an evergreen plant, the box needs water even in winter.

Cut boxwood

The image of accurately cut box trees in geometric shapes is so firmly anchored in our minds that we have a wild specimen in the forest might not even recognize at first glance - the natural one is so different Habitus. The fact that such strict cuts are so popular is probably due to a peculiarity of human perception: regularity pleases our eyes. We look for repetitive patterns that help organize our impressions. Our special article will help you if you have your own Cut boxwood want.

Brief overview of cutting boxwood:

• It is cut in the growing season from April to September, in the best case in dry and cloudy weather
• The device used should be very sharp so as not to crush the leaves and avoid brown edges. Electric or manual hedge trimmers are suitable for the coarser work, there are also special boxwood scissors for fine-tuning
• A distinction is made between three types of cut: back cut, shaped cut and care cut
• While the pruning takes place in early spring before the new shoots and down to the woody part is enough to make basic shape corrections, from April the shape cut will be even finer corrected
• Maintenance cuts can then be made every four weeks and are given the desired shape, new shoots are shortened
• For a perfect implementation of geometric shapes, you can also use cardboard stencils and plumb lines

Hibernate boxwood

The box tree is hardy, but still needs professional attention and protection in the cold season. As one of the few really evergreen deciduous trees that are indigenous to us, the book delights us all year round with its glossy dark green leaves. The crux of the matter is that it photosynthesizes all year round and thus also evaporates water. This makes the box, whose roots grow even primarily in the cold season, prone to dehydration. Most of the damage that occurs in winter is therefore not frostbite, but damage caused by drought. The box should therefore be watered regularly in frost-free weather.

Box trees that are rooted in the garden soil are protected from frost by the soil as if by a buffer. But many box trees live in pots - a winter coat made of fleece and jute is advisable for them, because the roots tend to to grow expansively along the very edge of the planter, where they would otherwise be defenseless due to large temperature fluctuations would be delivered. In addition, you can cover the open potting soil with fir branches and protect the pot from the direct cold from below by placing an insulating layer of wooden boards underneath. If there is an inner and an outer pot, a wood wool bed can be built between the two. Even having your own “winter quarters” can help with wintering: in a shady and sheltered location outdoors, water loss is reduced.

Boxwood: Common diseases and pests

The most feared Diseases and Boxwood pests are those that were introduced relatively recently. With professional care you can often prevent the infestation and thus minimize the use of pesticides.

Of the Box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) is the most prominent pest. It comes from China, eats entire hedges without being detected and was spurned as a meal by the local fauna until a few years ago. In the meantime, however, it can be observed that sparrows in particular are specifically looking for the small green caterpillars and thus keep the danger at bay. Prevention is the best way to fight the borer. Regular visual inspections from mid-March help to prevent the reproduction of the butterfly with the short reproduction cycle in the early stages. Several biological pesticides are available for this. For a successful fight against the box tree moth, we recommend our Plantura borer-free XenTari^®, a biological spray that is not harmful to bees and gentle on beneficial insects. More information about the Control of the box tree moth You will find here.

The Buchbaum shoot death (Cylindrocladium buxicola) is an aggressive fungus that has been killing entire box stocks in Central Europe since 2004. Orange to brown-black spots on the leaves and black stripes on the shoots herald the imminent total fall of leaves. A fungicide called tebuconazole works against the fungus, but is also harmful to many beneficial insects. There are no effective biological and natural home remedies - with one exception: for some time now, treatment with algae lime has been showing success. However, preventive care remains the most important measure: It is important to start with the choice of a robust variety and a wind-exposed, light location. The foliage should not be wetted when watering and pruning measures should be carried out without exception on dry leaves. More about that Instinct death and how to combat it you can read here.