Boxwood (aka aksus) is an evergreen shrub plant that can ennoble with its beautiful appearance any country or park area.
This species is easy to recognize by the oval leathery, dark green on top and almost yellow below the leaves. Wild-growing boxwood can reach a height of 15 m, cultivated - from 3 to 6 m. The bush blooms yellowish-green small fragrant flowers. All parts of this plant are poisonous. Boxwood well tolerates the haircut, so often it forms decorative figures of various geometric shapes: cone-shaped, ovate, pyramidal. There is nothing better than creating an original hedge or framing a flower bed with the help of shrub boxwood. Planting, caring for this plant does not require serious effort. Therefore, it is so popular with gardeners.
Boxwood - planting, care for cuttings during reproduction
This plant is preferably planted on a site with bright scattered light, but it does not like the direct rays of the sun at noon. Planting boxwood is carried out in the natural shadow of higher plants and trees. The bush should be planted in a fertile mixture of peat, turf and sand. It is necessary to plant young bushes from the middle of August to the end of November. Two- or three-year-old seedlings can be planted in the period from April to mid-May (you need to choose a cloudy day). Before planting it is necessary to place the roots of the plant in water for a day. The site allocated for the box is dredged in advance and then forms pits so that they are slightly larger and wider than the earth coma on the rhizome of the plant.
Propagate this beautiful shrubby seeds and cuttings, but the cuttings take root rather hard and long. They are cut in August, while choosing parts of plants with semi-woody base length of less than 7 cm, with 2-3 internodes. For effective rooting, soil heating in the greenhouse and phytohormones ("Heteroauxin" or "Kornevin") are used. The container for planting should not be taken too much, otherwise the seedling will be slowed down in growth.
Boxwood: landing, leaving. Features of watering and feeding
Watering the plants in the summer should be abundant, in the winter - more lean. The soil should dry up, but not dry completely. Do not flood the plant, as it will suffer from this. Falling, yellowing, twisting or drying out of the leaves of the plant may indicate a violation of watering or too dry, hot air. Periodically it is desirable to spray the box with water. He should also undergo a periodic haircut every six weeks between May and August. It is necessary to carry out and top dressing of the plant every two weeks, starting from March to August. For this you can buy organic fertilizer. In spring, the plant is fertilized with complex mixtures containing potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen. Mineral fertilizer is used only after the final rooting of boxwood.
Boxwood: landing, leaving. Features of wintering in cold climates
Boxwood - the plant is thermophilic, it is afraid of strong frosts and at -20 ° C it can easily die. In countries with severe winters, including in the middle zone of Russia, the plant grows slowly enough, often is short and requires mandatory shelter in the winter. Boxwood in the suburbs requires shelter in late autumn with sackcloth, spunbond or wrapping paper.