Boxwood

rockm

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Hopefully this will make it. Boxwood clump style. 30 years old. I've had it about ten years. Newly repotted. Bad background. Bear with me. I'm new at this...:D
 

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Smoke

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Interesting clump. I like the main portion and the slant. The lower branch on the right seems to blend but if it were mine that branch on the left would be removed, keeping it more of a slanted form.

How tall? Seems pretty large and the pot is nice, hand made?

Al
 

rockm

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I've been working to get more delineation in the pads. The angle of the shot and low res blends the pads at the right a bit.

This one grows like a weed and is need of a hack back to get more definition. The trunk on the left has bothered me for years, as it sticks out like a sore thumb. Don't know if removing it is the answer, but can't really bend it much without breaking it off--it's about as thick as my thumb at the base.

The tree is about 26" tall and about about 20" wide. I got the 19x15x3 pot from Ron Lang at the Potomac Bonsai Show last year. Got it with this tree in mind, as the former tokoname pot's glaze completely broke down and developed weird looking spots after a few winters under pine mulch :rolleyes: The pic doesn't do this pot much justice. It is his seafoam green glaze, but breaks to greys and blacks in places. It's subtle, but still colorful.
 

Ken Duncan

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Hi Rock, I like this group of Boxwoods. I hope You do not mind, I did a virt showing the whole planting tilted to the left. I think that some movement in the trunks would make this really pop.
Very nice.
Ken
 

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rockm

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Ken,

Thanks for the virt. I kind of like it. The issue with shifting the trunks is the single root base they all spring from. It is level and moving the angle on it makes it look a bit unstable to me.

I worked to greatly reduce the volume on the sore thumb left hand trunk yesterday, by about two thirds. I may wind up removing it, but want to see if the brutal pruning pushes any new growth lower down on the trunk that might be usable.

Here's a newer photo of the reduction. I may wind up removing the left hand trunk, but will wait to see if the hard pruning pushes new growth closer in towards the other trunks...
 

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Zach Smith

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rockm, have you thought of trying to lower the whole clump in the pot? I think one thing that draws the eye to that leftmost trunk (not in a good way) is the elevation of the planting. I believe the fact that it's on a raised "dais" makes it look more slight than it really is. Not that chasing back won't help, of course.

For what it's worth. But nice material, no doubt about it.

Zach
 

rockm

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Yeah, it's still around:D

The root mass is a difficult one since it grow down then out. I've been working to reduce the way it sits in the pot, but it's taking a while. Since the pot required for it is very shallow the root mass fault ia amplified a bit.
 

Hoosteady

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Nice.

Had it been badly rootbound at one point prior to being placed in a bonsai pot? Hence the root mass issue?

If you get around to taking an updated photo, you know where to post it.
 

rockm

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It was originally grown in-ground at a truck nursery in Fla. for landscaping purposes. It had been in the ground for well over a decade or so. In that time, it developed those downward growing surface roots. They're pretty thick at the trunk/root mass union, which means they can't be bent. That means pushing new feeders closer and closer to the woodier old roots. Takes some time.
 

Hoosteady

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I see. What have you been doing with it during the winter? You leave it pretty well exposed, or tuck it away and protect it from wind, snow?

Last question, you think it's OK to repot and do some minor pruning and wiring of boxwoods in the late summer/early fall... After worst of the heat and well before first major frosts.

I have a few boxwoods, pre-bonsai that are in need of a repotting. The one is a dwarf english and might be better off being thrown in the ground for a few years since they grow so slowly. Haven't decided what I'll do yet.
 

rockm

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I wouldn't do much repotting now. Not really enough time before winter. You may be able to get away with it, but you may not, depending on how agggressive you are. Not much point in repotting a boxwood if you aren't planning to agressively reduce the root mass. That's best done in the spring.

I leave this and my other Korean Boxwood (buxus Microphylla 'koreana,' now called, I think, Buxus sinica) out with only four inches of mulch on the ground in the winter. Korean box variety is one the hardiest of the Buxus lot. It is hardy to Zone 4 in ground and probably near that in containers. I've not had any problems overwintering this here even without winter protection.

English boxwood (Buxus sempevirens 'Suffruticosa') is winter hardy to Zone five inground. They're not as vigorous as the Korean boxwood
 
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