Large boxwood

[catfish chapstick]

I have a very large old boxwood that I dug out of my back yard just a couple days ago. I have no idea just how old the plant is but the house was build in the 40's. I cut back one side last year and when I removed it there were plenty of feeder roots so I'm confident that it will survive.

I've never worked with material like this. Can you guys give me some opinions as to the best way to treat a huge boxwood? Large canopy? Compact and small? Carve the hell out of it? I know they don't like to heal but there is sumo-like taper if I were to remove some of the larger trunks. Looking around on the Internet I see many different approaches.

I'll try to get some better pictures today

 

[Vin]

That's a pretty nice one. The tree is already telling you where to take it, you just have to stare at it a while. For now, I would let it recover this year.

 

[sorce]

Healing might be slow, and thin, but it is very defined and strong, I'd call it "well".

My take on Boxwood.....

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/boxwood-for-real.29340/

Sorce

P.s. Welcome Back!

 

[rockm]

Put it in a place in the yard where it will be out of the way. Address its immediate needs (watering and shelter from the wind) Don't make any plans for it for at least a year.

There is no point in making design plans for it, as it is a couple of days out of the ground. It is very uncertain whether it will live or get extensive die back or recover complete at this point. It looks like you have severely reduced the root mass...

 

[catfish chapstick]

Put it in a place in the yard where it will be out of the way. Address its immediate needs (watering and shelter from the wind) Don't make any plans for it for at least a year.

There is no point in making design plans for it, as it is a couple of days out of the ground. It is very uncertain whether it will live or get extensive die back or recover complete at this point. It looks like you have severely reduced the root mass...

I'm not going to do anything for a couple years besides feed and water. Right now I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about the styling. I should have photographed the roots when I bare rooted. Not sure if it's just how they grow but it had a ton of short feeder roots near the base and basically no nebari. That's the only reason I put it in a smaller pot.

 

[Vin]

I'm not going to do anything for a couple years besides feed and water. Right now I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about the styling. I should have photographed the roots when I bare rooted. Not sure if it's just how they grow but it had a ton of short feeder roots near the base and basically no nebari. That's the only reason I put it in a smaller pot.

It's just how they grow. Luckily, you removed a good amount of foliage to go along with the root reduction. Boxwoods require a good balance of root work and matching foliage removal. If you remove too much foliage then the roots take in water and have no where to expel it. If you remove too many roots then the foliage can starve for water. It's somewhat of a guessing game so let's hope you guessed correctly. I always used this tree as an example. I removed too much foliage without doing any root work. The tree died..

 

[catfish chapstick]

Healing might be slow, and thin, but it is very defined and strong, I'd call it "well".

My take on Boxwood.....

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/boxwood-for-real.29340/

Sorce

P.s. Welcome Back!

Thanks! And I have seen that thread. Very insightful.

 

[rockm]

I'm not going to do anything for a couple years besides feed and water. Right now I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about the styling. I should have photographed the roots when I bare rooted. Not sure if it's just how they grow but it had a ton of short feeder roots near the base and basically no nebari. That's the only reason I put it in a smaller pot.

It's good to understand styling, but a lot depends on what survives on the tree you have collected.

Although boxwood are pretty strong rooters and can take a lot of collection abuse, they can also wind up losing portions of their trunks/branching, etc. after collecting. That loss can continue for a while, until the tree stabilizes with new roots. Some older box take a very long time to do that, if they do it at all. I had an extremely old, 150 years, boxwood that I collected a while back. It remained alive for a year with no roots at all. Even pushed new growth...

I'd wait a year before deciding on a design path for the tree, when you'll have a better idea of what you will have to work with.

 

[mcpesq817]

My sense with these is that, like yew, they can be deceiving in seeming to respond well after collection. I think however, that they expend a lot of stored energy to push out new foliage and roots, and depleted, they weaken and tend to die or dieback. Graham Potter suggested leaving collected yews alone for three years. I would think about taking a similar slow approach with boxwood after collection.

 

[catfish chapstick]

Anyone able to identify the type of boxwood this is?

 

[just.wing.it]

Looks like a common box to me, buxus sempervirens I think....
Looks like fun!

 

[Vin]

It's probably Buxus sempervirens American Boxwood but it would be easier to tell you what it's not than what it is.

 

[Vin]

Looks like a common box to me, buxus sempervirens I think....
Looks like fun!

LOL! Beat me to it..

 

[just.wing.it]

It's probably Buxus sempervirens American Boxwood but it would be easier to tell you what it's not than what it is.

This is true...
It's not a Korean Little Leaf Box, I have one of those....
And it's not a Kingsville Box either...?

 

[catfish chapstick]

Buds are opening, leaves are pushing

Is it too soon to feed?

 

[Vin]

Buds are opening, leaves are pushing

Is it too soon to feed?

The pushing is probably a result of stored energy. I see no reason to feed it at this point. Try to hold off until May before you start fertilizing.

 

[RichS]

Just seen this post. I ran into a similar situation last year. They are doin alot of construction on a shopping center a I happened by and seen they had pulled up some of the boxwoods from around the old building. I found three tht were just laying on the ground. They had been pulled out by chains. 2 were in bad shape with there roots basically yanked off. But one still had its roots intact and it had rained for the last day or so so i grabbed it. Alot of foliage died after I potted it and I thought it was gone but sure enough it started shooting new growth. I've just left it alone besides watering and fert. This is it now

 

[catfish chapstick]

The pushing is probably a result of stored energy. I see no reason to feed it at this point. Try to hold off until May before you start fertilizing.

That's what I thought. Just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. I had a boxwood years ago that I killed from removing too much foliage too quickly. Not making the mistake of over-working it this time...

 

[drew33998]

I don't see any reason not to start fertilizing 4tbs on a 4-6 week rotation. Roots need fertilizer to help them grow too. I put it right on this guy when I collected and repotted. And then put some more on after I bent the holy shit out of it with guy wires. Only one snap surprisingly on a smaller branch. The large branches were moved several inches down without cracking. I was impressed since they are notoriously tough candidates to move. It had just been watered and was around 78 Degrees outside. Mid spring.

 

[catfish chapstick]

I trimmed away some weaker branches