How to grow boxwood at home?

Forming a dense, easy-to-cut and shaping crown, boxwood is one of the favorite plants of landscape designers. On the basis of this evergreen shrub with a dense compact crown and small leaves, not only green borders and living walls are created, but also amazing sculptural compositions.

Interest in culture today is greater than ever. What are the plant's requirements for keeping conditions, and how to care for boxwood so that the plant will delight for a long time with the brilliance of the foliage and the perfection of its shape?

In nature, there are more than four dozen species of boxwood growing in the Mediterranean countries, in Southeast Asia and India, as well as in Africa and Madagascar.

On the territory of Russia, there are two wild-growing types of boxwood: Colchis and Hyrcanian.

The most famous cultivated plant from this vast family is the evergreen boxwood, followed by the small-leaved and Balearic boxwood. These species are used in landscaping cities and parks, and are also grown as indoor crops. Garland's whimsical boxwood is used to create miniature bonsai.

Growing boxwood and caring for it at home

Distinctive features of all plant varieties are a low growth rate, glossy foliage, densely strewn with a dense crown, as well as easy care for boxwood at home. With the right approach, the plant becomes a real decoration of the home and garden, delighting the owner for many years with an unusual appearance and bright greenery.

For boxwood to really feel comfortable, it needs conditions close to natural.

The plant perfectly spends the summer period on an open terrace, in a garden or on a balcony. In this case, the boxwood needs to select places with good lighting, but we must not forget about protection from direct rays that burn young shoots and foliage.

The ideal conditions for wintering indoor boxwood is a dry, closed room with a temperature of +6 to +16 ° С. If the plant is grown in a garden, it can suffer already at -10 ° C, therefore, garden bush and standard boxwoods must be provided with a reliable shelter until the frost passes. Caring for boxwood at home involves frequent and abundant watering. Boxwoods love moisture. At the same time, its hardness is not a critical indicator, however, plants do not tolerate watering with cold or chlorine-containing water poorly. In order not to harm the pet, it is better to defend moisture in advance.

In the warm season, boxwood requires abundant watering, because without water, it quickly begins to shed foliage and dry out. On hot days, boxwood responds well to spraying the crown.

By autumn, the frequency of watering is reduced, and in winter, only occasionally, as necessary, they moisten the soil, making sure that the water does not stagnate and does not cause rotting of the root system.The lower the air temperature in the room where the boxwood is located, the less its need for watering, but the soil should not be allowed to dry out.

During the period of active growth, from spring to early autumn, the shrub is fed with a frequency of 10-14 days, alternating mineral and organic additives.

From complex ready-made fertilizer mixtures for boxwood, the same compositions are suitable as for azaleas.

Reproduction of boxwood and care of seedlings

In natural habitats, boxwood reproduces both vegetatively and by seeds that are formed in capsule fruits and literally shoot out as many meters after ripening.

To speed up the process and facilitate care, at home reproduction of boxwood is carried out using cuttings. You can get cuttings twice a year.

• In the summer months, young shoots that have recently lignified at the base are cut off for planting. In most cases, you can get these cuttings in June and July.
• In the last days of summer or early September, you can also cut cuttings up to 10 cm long, containing 2-3 internodes.

The planting material is planted under a film in a moistened mixture of peat and garden soil.

At home, boxwood can also be propagated by layering obtained from young shoots inclined to the soil.

On such a branch, a cut of the bark with a fragment of wood is made and the shoot is pressed to the ground, securing this position with a wire bracket and directing the upper part of the layering vertically. Rooting boxwood can take up to three weeks. You can speed up the process with the help of growth stimulants, regular watering and a little heating of the soil. When young plants give roots, they are planted at a distance of 10 cm from each other or in separate small pots.

How to transplant boxwood?

To transplant young seedlings and already mature boxwood bushes, a soil mixture with a neutral reaction is needed, consisting of:

• two parts of humus;
• the same amount of sand;
• one part of sod land;
• a small amount of fine charcoal.

If the soil is too loose, add a little clay to it. This is especially important when planting a boxwood intended for bonsai and which subsequently does not transplant for a long time.

All types of boxwood require good drainage of fine gravel or stone chips with coarse sand.

The best time to transplant is spring. During the warm months, the plant will have time to acclimatize, and winter will be less of a challenge for it. The new pot should not be overly large, especially when it comes to replanting an adult bush.

How to transplant store-bought boxwood with a closed root system? Often in such plants, the roots grow through the drainage holes, and inside the container they are woven into a tight ball. In this case, such a lump cannot be attempted to straighten or unravel. The roots that have got out on the walls of the pot are carefully cut flush with the bottom, the lump together with the peat soil is removed from the container and gently transferred into the prepared container and the prepared mixture is poured.

Boxwood pests and diseases

Most cases of loss of visual appeal by a shrub, as well as damage to a plant by pests and diseases, are associated with a violation of the rules for caring for boxwood at home:

1. Excessive watering during the cold season leads to root rot and other boxwood diseases.
2. Drying out of the soil and dry air in the room is the reason for the loss of foliage and drying out of the young parts of the shoots.
3. If the air temperature remains above 18 ° C for a long time, then the boxwood also begins to lose leaves and weaken.

Neglect of fertilizing, frost damage and other factors also lead to the weakening of the plant. Boxwood diseases and pests affect precisely weak, emaciated specimens.

Among the pests that can quickly settle on a weakened plant are spider mites, boxwood gall midges and various types of scale insects.The leaves of the bush are affected by the larvae of miner flies, which lay their eggs in plant tissue.

And more recently, boxwoods in our country and throughout Europe have a new enemy brought from East Asia. The boxwood moth, along with seedlings, was first brought to Germany in 2006, then it was found in Holland, Switzerland and other parts of the Old World. And in 2012, caterpillars and butterflies came to Russia on the boxwood intended for landscaping the Olympic Sochi. Today, the pest causes serious damage to the wild plantings of the relic Colchis boxwood.

Modern insecticides and fungicides are used to control larvae, ticks and caterpillars on box trees. Sick and pest-affected shoots are cut and destroyed. At the same time, they must establish caring for the boxwood at home, providing the plant with proper watering, temperature regime and feeding.

Crown formation and boxwood pruning

Since the boxwood does not differ in its growth rate, it is easy to cut it, giving the crown a variety of shapes.

Since the pruning of boxwood affects the shoots of the shrub, removing their tops leads to the beginning of active branching, the crown becomes even denser, and there is no gradual exposure of old branches, as in wild species. Thanks to competent pruning, boxwoods are grown at home as bonsai, formed in the form of standard trees, silhouettes of various animals, geometric shapes and other objects.

Pruning boxwood will be most effective if done from April to July, when the plant's growth rate of shoots and foliage is at its maximum. To form the crown, special templates are used today that help to quickly and accurately create a conceived composition.

Video about boxwood evergreen globular

More and more primordial garden plants are moving into the rooms. Together with the best annuals and beautifully flowering perennials, numerous evergreens of the garden, for example, boxwood, acquire the status of "indoor". Despite their reputation as a predominantly garden plant, potted boxwoods can beautify more than just terraces. Not the most unpretentious, but charming, albeit poisonous, boxwoods offer to expand horizons and decorate the interior with unexpectedly perfect textures of their dense crown. This is one of the latest additions to the list of indoor garden favorites. How to grow boxwood at home, we will tell in the article.

Boxwood in interior design

Content:

• Boxwood in nature and in the room - differences and features
• Types of indoor boxwood
• Conditions for growing indoor boxwood
• Caring for box trees at home
• Reproduction of indoor boxwood

Boxwood in nature and in the room - differences and features

Boxwood is one of the most recognizable evergreen shrubs. This plant has long become a "must" not only in urban landscaping, but also in garden design. Boxwood is the main star of regular gardens and topiary. It is easy to recognize by both its growth pattern and the beauty of its strikingly dense foliage. But if in gardens or parks boxwood has long been perceived as a classic, then in the room it causes, at least, surprise.

Boxwood is such a "garden" plant that it is very difficult to imagine it in a closed space. But in recent years, along with the best conifers, boxwoods have begun to conquer new heights as indoor plants. In our country, they still seem like a curiosity and novelty, but in the West they have long become one of the wonderful alternatives to the usual decorative leafy accents.

The first designers who flirted with the oriental style began to introduce boxwood into the interiors of the rooms. Today, boxwood is the main star of Chinese and Japanese restaurants, an amazing accent in modern interiors with a focus on minimalism.

In nature, boxwoods are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, they are especially common in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Western Asia.As an ornamental plant, boxwood is one of the most popular plants on our planet. These are representatives of the family of the same name Boxwood.

The exterior of indoor box trees is as recognizable as ordinary garden box trees. Despite the maximum declared height of 1 m, the shrub in the rooms is usually limited to 30-60 cm. It is a densely branched, compact, slow-growing evergreen with an amazingly dense crown. Straight shoots are densely covered with sessile leaves in pairs. Small, up to 3 cm, glossy, with a central vein, elongated oval leaves of boxwood are easily recognizable not only by the characteristic shade of a dark green color, which changes on the back side to a lighter one, but also by a pleasant smell.

Boxwood seems ideal in terms of density and crown texture. The plant by nature flaunts with dense contours, but indoor boxwoods, like garden ones, are grown only with the formation of strict silhouettes. Boxwood can be set to any direction of growth and any contour. Boxwoods do not bloom in rooms.

Beautiful green boxwood in the interior beckons to touch. But you need to be careful with the plant. All parts of box trees are poisonous, they contain dangerous alkaloids. The toxicity of the plant should be considered not only when pruning, but also when choosing a placement, because this plant is not suitable for growing in homes with small children or pets.

Home boxwoods fully reveal their phytoncidal talents. The plant is considered one of the most beneficial shrubs that can cleanse the air of bacteria and toxins.

Boxwoods in pots

The types of box trees are rarely distinguished from each other. Most often, when buying a ready-made indoor plant, you can see the marking "common boxwood" or just the name of the plant. But it would be a big mistake to think that a single species of the entire genus of box trees is grown in the rooms - the dominant one in landscape design as well.

Common boxwood or evergreen (Buxus sempervirens) is a visiting card of box trees, a species that can be transferred to a pot culture and grown indoors. But in room culture, two other types of boxwood, which have more interesting foliage and a thickened crown, with compact sizes, show their properties better. Common boxwood is much more capricious, often sheds leaves, does not forgive mistakes in care.

Small-leaved boxwood (Buxus microphylla) is a densely leafy, strikingly curly shrub. With leaves only up to 2.5 cm long, this boxwood is distinguished by slow growth, perfectly retains its shape and silhouette, practically requiring no frequent pruning. Due to its dense crown, it is considered the ideal boxwood for potting, it is the best choice if you want to create a strict "flawless" silhouette.

Bolear boxwood (Buxus balearica) is a very beautiful shrub with rather large, oval leaves, famous for its ornamental pattern, ceremonial appearance, bright, rich medium-green color. Leaves can exceed 4 cm in length. Due to its rapid growth, it is one of the best plants for experimenting with topiary art.

Boxwood ordinary or evergreen (Buxus sempervirens)

Despite its status as one of the most common plants, boxwood is far from easy to grow, even in horticultural culture. Failures often occur in the cultivation of this plant, since the boxwood's dislike of the winds, sensitivity to spring burns, dependence on the stability of winter temperatures and the level of snow are not always taken into account. In indoor culture, the selection of conditions for boxwood is as important as for its garden counterparts.

Indoor boxwoods in our range of flower shops are still a rarity. Both genuine indoor boxwood and potted boxwoods in malls can be purchased for indoor cultivation. This plant is affordable and widespread.If you wish, you can grow indoor boxwood from a rooted cutting, which is sold for the garden, or you can get a cutting yourself.

Lighting and placement in the interior

Unlike garden potted boxwoods, which can be displayed in both bright light and partial shade, indoor boxwood needs more stable lighting. In the room for the plant, light places are selected, protecting the leaves from the midday sun. In diffused lighting, indoor boxwoods achieve maximum decorativeness.

Indoor boxwoods do not like artificial supplementary lighting, thus it will not be possible for them to compensate for insufficient illumination. Plants should be displayed on window sills - east, west or partially south windows.

When choosing a place in a room for boxwoods, it is worth remembering why this landscape gardening shrub was introduced into indoor culture. Boxwood is an evergreen accent, a small living potted sculpture worth using as a single accent.

This plant is an analogue of a large decor, a green sculpture, which is exhibited as a tone and style setting in the most prominent places. In groups, boxwoods are not lost, but indoor boxwoods better reveal their true beauty in splendid isolation.

Temperature control and ventilation

For indoor boxwoods, cool conditions are preferred. Indoors, this plant does not tolerate heat very well, but it reacts well to low temperatures. In summer, if the air temperature exceeds + 23 ° C, measures should be taken to regularly ventilate and increase the humidity. In spring and autumn, cold snaps are not terrible for box trees, but it is better to limit the minimum temperature in any season, except for winter, + 12 ° С.

Indoor boxwoods should overwinter in low temperatures. Unlike tub plants, they do not tolerate a drop in air temperature below + 5 ° C. The wintering mode from +5 to + 10 ° С is considered ideal for this plant, but if such conditions are not possible, then the indicators in winter should be lowered to at least + 12 ... + 16 ° С.

Boxwood loves fresh air. It is not only possible, but also desirable to take it out in the summer in the garden, on an open veranda, balcony. In the fresh air, the plant is much less capricious than on the windowsill. But under the condition of regular ventilation, the boxwood will not suffer in the room either.

Placing indoor boxwoods outdoors, you need to look for places in the shade for them: a sharp drop in the intensity of illumination on sunny areas is likely to be disastrous for the plant.

Indoor box trees are far from the most resistant and undemanding plants. Common boxwood can be considered one of the most capricious indoor shrubs, but the other two species do an excellent job with fluctuations in conditions.

Missing boxwood care will go away without consequences, only if we are talking about small deviations from the norm. In order for indoor boxwood to retain high decorativeness, you will have to take care of stable humidity, notice the slightest problems in its growth, and provide an influx of fresh air.

Watering and air humidity

Indoor boxwoods are watered carefully, maintaining a light, stable substrate moisture. The frequency of these procedures is set so that the topsoil dries out between waterings. Rare but not abundant watering is preferable. In winter, when kept cool, watering is made minimal, preventing the roots and leaves from drying out. Drought is well tolerated by box trees, but only for a short period. Prolonged drying of the substrate affects the decorativeness of the greenery.

An unpleasant surprise for many who want to have a boxwood in the room is his love for high humidity. Boxwood, especially in the heat, needs regular water treatments. For this shrub, there is no need to install industrial humidifiers or even pallets of moss. This garden plant is not only not afraid of getting wet, but also adores spraying.

Periodic or regular in summer, conventional spraying significantly increases the decorative effect of foliage and stimulates the growth of a luxurious dense crown.

For both watering and spraying box trees in a room culture, it is better to use settled water. The temperature of the water for spraying does not really matter, but it is advisable to use lukewarm water for irrigation.

 Top dressing and fertilizer composition

For indoor boxwoods, it is important to find a balance between maintaining stable soil nutrition and not having an excess of nutrients in top dressing. For this plant, it is enough to apply fertilizers with a frequency of 1 time per month for adult plants and 1 time per 2 weeks for young and actively growing box trees. With a standard frequency of fertilizing 1 time in 2 weeks, the dosage of fertilizers is halved. Top dressing for indoor boxwoods is carried out only from March to August.

For indoor boxwood, ordinary universal fertilizer is also quite suitable. But the best results are provided by the use of special fertilizers for rhododendrons. The balance of nutrients, macro- and microelements in such fertilizers provides foliage with a richer color and flawless appearance.

Pruning and shaping indoor boxwood

The optimal period for pruning any indoor boxwood is rightly called the beginning of summer. If the boxwood was not formed before this time, then pruning is carried out in the second half of June or early July. For mature boxwoods, pruning can be carried out from spring to early fall, maintaining the contours, depending on the growth rate and the need to restrain the plant.

Boxwood tolerates both light and strong formation. Crop it depending on the desired dimensions and contours. It can be trimmed to a specific pattern or improvised. At least two pairs of leaves should be left on the branches. For young shoots, pinching or shortening the tops can be used.

If desired, a bonsai can be formed from boxwood, using both pruning and other methods of shaping the silhouette and style. The wire on the plant can be kept long enough to fix and guide the trunk and branches. The maximum period of contraction of the shoots is up to 7 months. Trimming small shoots and forming the crown are always carried out according to a given silhouette.

Transplant and substrate

Like any other houseplant, boxwood prefers transplanting at the beginning of the active growth stage, in the spring. If necessary, box trees can be transplanted at a later date, but not at the dormant stage. The frequency of transplanting is determined individually, focusing on the growth rate of the plant. For the boxwood, the annual transplant is still considered a rarity.

The plant is transferred into larger containers, when the roots completely absorb the substrate, with an average frequency of 1 every 3 years. Bonsai-shaped boxwoods are not recommended for replanting at all.

The soil for indoor boxwoods should be breathable, loose and nutritious. For boxwood, both a universal substrate and special soil mixtures for decorative deciduous crops are suitable. By controlling the nutritional value of the soil, it is possible to restrict plant growth and thicken the crown: in poor soil, boxwood produces thinner and shorter shoots with thicker leaves.

If the soil mixture is made up independently, then it is better to mix sod, leafy soil and sand in a ratio of 4: 2: 1. The addition of peat for this plant is undesirable.

For boxwoods, the size of the pots cannot be greatly increased: only a couple of centimeters are added to the diameter of the previous container. Boxwoods prefer classic containers with a height slightly higher than width.

Indoor boxwoods are carefully transferred into new containers. The earth lump cannot be destroyed, with the exception of removing the contaminated top layer.

Bonsai shaped boxwood

Diseases, pests and growing problems

Indoor boxwood is one of the most pest-resistant shrubs.Only when neglected can these evergreens be affected by spider mites. There are also scale insects on them. It is better to deal with pests by simply washing off with soapy solutions. Insecticides are used only for severely advanced infection.

Reproduction of indoor boxwood

Boxwoods are propagated by cuttings. In indoor shrubs, spring and summer cuttings can be used, but not completely lignified shoots: you can cut branches at the stage until only the base is lignified. The last cuttings of indoor box trees are cut in early July.

Standard cuttings of this shrub are up to 7 cm long (with at least two internodes). The bottom leaves can be removed, leaving only the top pair. Oblique cuts below the knot are the classic option. Cuttings also root in ordinary water, but most often they prefer a more reliable method: they are buried at an angle into a sandy soil mixture or an ordinary substrate, and kept under a hood. Provided there is a stable humidity and frequent ventilation, cuttings can take root within a month after planting. Grow them up in larger containers. Bottom heating and treatment with growth stimulants increases the speed and improves the quality of rooting.

The seed method for indoor boxwoods can be used, but it is used extremely rarely due to the duration of the subsequent growing of plants until they reach their maximum decorative effect.

Maybe one of the readers of "Botanichka" is already growing boxwood in indoor conditions. We will be grateful if you share your experience in the comments to this article or on our Forum.

Foreword

Surely you have admired the dense and dense evergreen fence more than once, and at the same time wondered how you managed to create such beauty. And the bushes-figurines for decorating the garden were generally considered a work of art, accessible only to a select few? But all this is quite affordable boxwood, which will not be difficult to care for at home.

Plant characteristics and features

Recently, more and more people began to grow it as a home, indoor plant. The reason is the beneficial properties that boxwood has. The plant releases phytoncides into the air. These volatile substances are able to neutralize harmful bacteria that accumulate in the air. It also has a pleasant smell, which is released during flowering or when pressed on the leaves.

It should be noted that only three types of plants are suitable for indoor cultivation:

You should pay attention to the fact that evergreen boxwood at home is quite whimsical. With the wrong care, he can easily shed the leaves.

Boxwood - features of cultivation

So how to care for evergreen boxwood at home? This is not an ordinary indoor flowerpot, which is enough to water and forget several times a month. It requires careful and meticulous care.

Growing boxwood in an apartment is not that difficult. The ideal place for this plant is a windowsill, which has direct sunlight access. It can also grow in low light, but then the boxwood will look more like an ornamental plant.

It is important to know that you do not need to replant it often. Enough once for three years. When replanting, the soil should not be homogeneous, but consist of the following parts:

• 4 parts of sod land;
• 2 pieces of leafy land;
• 1 part coarse sand.

Plant care

In order for boxwood to please you with its rapid growth, you need to remember about the recommendations of specialists.

• Lighting. Boxwood loves bright, diffused light. Although in summer it is better to hide it from the direct midday sun. If the plant is in the garden, then place it in the shade of taller trees or shrubs.
• Temperature. In winter, it is optimal around 5 ° C, and in spring the temperature should not drop below 12 ° C.In summer, normal room temperature will suffice. But do not forget that boxwood loves the open air, so it is advisable to take it out to the balcony or yard in the summer.
• Watering... In winter, this should not be overused. You need to look after the plant and water it as needed. But in the summer, boxwood should be watered abundantly and often. It is very important that the roots of the plant do not dry out, otherwise it will be impossible to propagate it later.
• Air humidity... Boxwood is a moisture-loving plant. You can not be afraid to spray it from time to time with settled water.
• Fertilizer. To keep the boxwood healthy and evergreen, you can feed it with the same fertilizer used for the azalea. This is best done from March to August, every two weeks.

These rules will be enough for the plant to please its owners for many years.

Reproduction of boxwood

With proper care, it is quite easy to propagate evergreen boxwood at home. You should pay attention to the fact that this plant reproduces with the help of cuttings and seeds.

Cuttings are best cut at the end of summer. It should have two or three internodes and be no longer than seven centimeters. Then the plant will take root, and will grow and bloom for a long time.

Put the prepared cuttings in water until the roots appear, or lower them immediately into a pot with soil.

Now everyone knows how to care for boxwood and can independently create a unique atmosphere of the Garden of Eden in their apartment, which remains evergreen for many years.

Did you know that propagation of boxwood by cuttings at home is quite affordable even for a beginner in floriculture? Cutting this spectacular evergreen will allow you to create a beautiful border or hedge on your site at no extra cost.

Once you have planted a boxwood bush on your site, you will no longer resist the temptation to fill the garden with exquisite evergreens that are very easy to care for.

Boxwood: plant description

Boxwood belongs to the genus of slow-growing evergreen shrubs and trees of the Boxwood family. In nature, according to the latest updated data, there are about a hundred species of this plant. They grow naturally in East Asia, Mediterranean countries, West Indies. The Latin name Buxus was given to the plant by the Greeks.

There are three large areas of boxwood in the world - Central American, Euro-Asian and African. In culture, the boxwood tree is considered one of the oldest ornamental plants, which is grown as a garden and pot culture. In warm regions, the shrub is used not only as curbs and hedges. Picturesquely trimmed boxwood bushes adorn lawns and gardens.

At home, boxwood is very popular for bonsai, as the plant grows well in a small container, actively bushes, has small leaves and tolerates pruning well. Boxwood can be grown in containers. In this case, very cute balls are formed from the bushes.

However, as we said, this plant grows very slowly. The annual growth of shoots is only a few centimeters, so admirers of this beautiful plant acquire several seedlings at once. Or you can save a little by using boxwood propagation by cuttings. How to do it? Where to begin?

There are two ways to propagate boxwood: by cuttings in water and in the ground. The first method is long and less effective, since shoots often rot in the water. The second method is very popular, so we will tell you more about it.

When to cut the cuttings?

During a planned shearing of plantings (for example, in parks), you can collect the amount of planting material you need, from which you can grow several seedlings in a year.Cuttings can be harvested in the second half of September or early October, but it will not be possible to plant the plants in the ground in the same year.

If grafting is carried out in June-July, rooted seedlings planted in open ground have time to take root. Do not propagate evergreen boxwood by cuttings between April and June. At this time, the shrub is actively growing, its young shoots are very soft and tender. They should be handled with care, protected from direct sunlight. With insufficient care, they will simply die. And cuttings, cut from July to March, take root practically without the help of a gardener.

How to cut the cuttings correctly?

You need green cuttings for reproduction of boxwood, which are not yet lignified, but at the same time they are well ripened. With a very sharp garden knife, they are cut into lengths from ten to fifteen centimeters. The bottom cut is made at an angle. After that, the cutting is freed from the lower leaves, leaving no more than five leaves at the top.

When to propagate boxwood?

This can be done in spring and autumn, but the first option is preferable, since you do not need to look for a storage room for seedlings in winter. But in this case, one nuance should be taken into account. We have already said that for reproduction, strong, young, but completely non-lignified shoots are needed. In April, there may be none at all, or there are very few of them. But there is also an advantage in the reproduction of boxwood by cuttings in the spring - the plant takes root faster and easier, has enough time before winter for acclimatization.

But let's stop at the fact that you managed to collect the required number of shoots, and you cut cuttings of the required length from them. The longer and smoother the oblique cut, the more likely the cutting is to take root. To stimulate root growth, shoots, previously cleaned from the lower leaves, must be soaked in a root former for a day. After that, the cuttings are thoroughly washed with water and planted in open ground.

For the early formation of a bush, the cuttings are tied in bundles of several pieces and rooted together. The soil for boxwood needs fertile and light. An ideal combination would be a mixture consisting of equal parts of leafy soil, sand and compost or humus that has rotted for several years.

The cuttings are buried to the height of the leaf-free twigs and watered abundantly. It is necessary to create a microclimate with high humidity above the seedlings. Therefore, until they are completely rooted, they are covered with transparent materials - glass or plastic bottles, polyethylene.

But we must not forget about regular airing and watering the plants, so you need to think about the top hole in your greenhouse in advance. Most gardeners use five-liter plastic bottles for this purpose: cut off the bottom and cover the stalk with it. For frequent watering and ventilation, simply unscrew the cover.

It is necessary to water a young plant in such a way that all the leaves are moistened - for example, from a spray bottle. You should not fill the soil, you just need to maintain constant moisture. The first roots of the seedlings will start up in a month, it will completely take root in two. At this time, you can remove the shelter and, if necessary, replant.

In the very first winter, young plants should be covered with leaves or spruce branches. This is how boxwood propagates by cuttings in spring. It's time to get acquainted with the features of autumn rooting.

Reproduction in autumn

What is the difference between boxwood propagation by cuttings in autumn? Only by the fact that the planting material is planted in containers or flower pots, which are also covered with polyethylene, and transferred to the room at the first frost.

Preparation of containers

First of all, prepare containers in which the shoots will root.For this, flower pots or small plastic buckets, compact but deep at the same time, are suitable. You will need a soil mixture for planting: light fertile soil and sand in equal shares. Rooting of cuttings is carried out without drainage.

Fill the selected containers with soil, compact it a little and make small indentations. In a medium-sized pot (about twenty centimeters), you can plant five cuttings at once, evenly distributing them around, closer to the sides.

Features of autumn planting

After planting, water the cuttings well and place the containers with them in the shade. If you are growing plants in winter, place the cuttings in an unheated greenhouse or lighted basement.

How long do the cuttings take root?

This process is quite lengthy. The cuttings take root for several months. Some are faster, others are slower. This is due to many factors. The same cuttings, which are in the same conditions, may have a different root system. Plants that are ready for transplantation usually develop not only roots, but also young light green shoots.

As you can see, propagation of boxwood by cuttings is not at all difficult, especially if it is possible to cut shoots from a three-year-old bush. And the result of your work will surely please you and your loved ones.