opinions on my new boxwood

robdog289

Seedling
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Picked up this boxwood from HomeDepot for $12.99. I thinned it out but don't know where to go. I am going to keep it in this pot to let it grow for a couple years. I will change the soil soon. I did think the nebari was great for nursery stock. All opinions welcome.
 

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grog

Shohin
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Can't help you, just saw there were no responses which is a bit of a statement in itself. In my neck of the woods boxwood don't seem to be nearly as bulletproof as a lot of others find them. Their cat pee smell doesn't endear me to them much:p If you get good backbudding this year plan to repot next spring, the nursery soil it's in won't be very good for it's health.
 

bonsai barry

Omono
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This tree could be a challenge. I think it will take a lot of work and quite of few years to develop this tree (but isn't that true of most trees?) The number of primary branches should be reduced. The branches of the tree also need to be cut back to encourage secondary branches close to the trunk. I've worked with boxwood for only about four years, and I don't have a good feel about their ability to back bud. I don't find it very consistent. When I cut a branch back I always leave some green leaves, but I've read of people that cut it way back and seem to have no problem with back budding.

Also, I can't agree with you regarding the nebari. Yes, it does have large surface roots, but I prefer roots that are better organzied and suggest more stability. Good luck with this boxwood and keep us informed about its progress.
 

DaveG

Mame
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In my neck of the woods boxwood don't seem to be nearly as bulletproof as a lot of others find them. Their cat pee smell doesn't endear me to them much:p

Have you considered that maybe the neighborhood animals are interfering with your hobby?
 

Jrbrown4

Sapling
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Personally looking at the roots I find the one large root that crosses the others very distracting. It is hard to know whether you could remove that without trying to atleast get in the rootball some and see how much of the root system is attached to this area. Personally I am having fun with a few box woods although they do have a habit of forming Y structures with all the new growth which makes it hard to form the crown the way I wanted.
 

robdog289

Seedling
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I am not looking for a show winner here. Just a decent beginner hobby tree. Just some opinions on how to style it to make it look decent would be great.
 

digger714

Shohin
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The first thing to do is start cleaning out any leaves on the trunk, and clear the branches about 1" or a little more from the trunk out. THen once you can see all the branches, just study the tree to decide your front, then determine which branches to keep, and which to take off. This is where the art of it comes in, and you must decide for yourself what to keep, and what to take off. You should pot it in some bonsai soil, or something that drains really fast. Then, as suggested, it would be nice to take off the root that covers the others. Then maybe post more pics, and go from there. I would prune it this year, then wait until next to put into a larger pot. Are you wanting the trunk to get any larger? You could even get rid of everything but the largest trunk, or the one with the best roots, and character.
 
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jk_lewis

Masterpiece
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You have, I think, 2 plants. I hink if you removed this from the pot, cleaned all soil off the roots and gave a gentle tug you'd end up with a small plant in each hand.

I'm gonna rant here, a moment.

WHY do people look for potential bonsai in the 2- or 3-gallon-pot section of the big box stores? Home Depot and Lowes, specifically, but including Wal- and K-Marts? Their towns MUST have at least one or two real nurseries in them. I live in a tiny town (1000 people) but there are HDs and Lowes nearby. I have 4 very, very nice burseries in my town!

Box store plants are like this one -- more pot than plant. A pot that large should have a plant 2-4 times as large as this one in it -- and would have at any decent nursery. That plant should have been in a 1-gallon pot for $3.00. This goes for all plants sold there -- junipers, azalea, boxwood, etc.

Those stores are the LAST place one shold look for potential bonsai.

End rant.

That said, you probably have the makings of a couple of nice mini-bonsai there. The trunks are still small enough to wire to shape, and boxwood bud back nicely (they ARE hedge pplants, after all) so you can snip most of the foliage back.
 

robdog289

Seedling
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fairly similar looking. I like your trunk a little better as it is all one. I looked at mine and dug around a little, i believe at one time it was 2 trunks, but they have fused together. This is just a little hobby tree for me to mess with.
 
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