There are about 30 species of boxwood in nature.These plants come from southern Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and even Central America and the Antilles. Of these, only two species are commonly used in our horticulture.The first is evergreen boxwood Buxus sempervirens - more often cultivated, available in many varietal forms, varying in terms of growth strength, habit, shape, size and color of leaves. The second is small-leaved boxwood Buxus microphylla, much less common, most often available for sale in the 'Faulkner' variety.
Both species are relatively similar to each other. They are evergreen dense shrubs or small trees with initially ovoid shape, dark green, leathery, elliptical leaves similar to the leaves of a bilberry. The leaf blades are full-edge, at the top they can be indented or rounded, shiny on the top, matt on the underside.The inconspicuous, dioecious flowers are small and tiny, yellow, devoid of petals, growing in the leaf axils.
Usually a female flower is surrounded by a few male flowers.The flowers develop from the end of March to the beginning of May, they are honey-bearing, they attract numerous insects, they smell intensely.Equally small and inconspicuous fruit, when ripe, "shoot" hard black seeds up to several meters away. Evergreen boxwood has been cultivated since antiquity. The plant was valued for its hard, light yellow, very valuable wood, which was used to make decorative boxes and musical instruments.The largest collection of box trees in the country (the national collection) can be viewed at the Arboretum of the University of Wrocław in Wojsławice.
Boxwood is a long-lived plant, in favorable conditions it lives up to 600-700 years, resistant to drought, therefore it is often planted in cemeteriesThe most important use of boxwood, however, was in baroque gardens, also known as French ones. This style is characterized by regularity and symmetry in the composition, trees and shrubs are formed, evenly trimmed and kept in strict proportions. Boxwood is perfectly moldable, keeps leaves throughout the year, so it does not lose its attractiveness in winter and is undemanding at the same time. As a hedge plant, it is used to create green walls, low divines, labyrinths, cabinets.
Cut strongly and kept at a height of 20-50 cm, it is an excellent border plant. In this form, it looks most beautiful along winding paths, around perennial beds or rose petals. The classic combination of a rose bed surrounded by a trimmed boxwood does not have to be reserved for palace gardens and residences - it is easy to make and maintain, also in small home gardens.Labyrinth construction is more difficult, requires less or a more complicated network of paths.
Reliable in cultivation
Boxwood has low cultivation requirements, grows well in most average garden soils with neutral or alkaline pH, only does not like soils that are too sandy, acidic and waterlogged. It grows best on fertile, warm, permeable, moderately moist substrates.It is a light-tolerant plant, resistant to drought and not very sensitive to polluted city air.
In the case of cultivation in highly sunny locations, shrubs should be covered (shade) with a nursery net for the winter, especially in the eastern parts of the country, where the continental climate prevails and plants are exposed to frost (zone 6a). Cutting is usually done twice a year, in early spring and mid-summer.
More often in garden sculptures.A common pest of boxwood is the honeydew, the aphid that causes the leaves to bulge. We fight it by spraying one of the commercially available preparation with a deep action.
The most spectacular are plant sculptures from the bush, professionally called: topiar. Their execution often takes many years and requires patience, especially if the sculptures are to depict the silhouettes of animals. It is much easier to obtain geometric forms: spheres, cylinders, tetrahedra, cones or cuboids. These types of sculptures look great solo in exposed places. They can also be part of a hedge from which they grow or emerge.
Formed box trees grown in large terracotta or stone pots are most often used to decorate representative places, e.g.in the front gardens. Modernist flower pots made of plastic, glass or metal are popular in modern garden arrangements, especially in urban settings. When using this type of containers, do not forget about the internal insulation of the walls of the pots with polystyrene boards, which will effectively protect the root system against freezing.
Recommended varieties of boxwood
- Buxus microphylla 'Faulkner' - currently very popular and actually the only so widely available variety of small-leaved boxwood, obtained in the USA in 1970. Shrub with a spherical shape, grows up to 1-1.2 m, leaves are rounded, 1.5 cm long, dark green, shiny, turning brown in winter. The variety was awarded the AGM award in 2012.
- Buxus microphylla 'Compacta' - a dwarf, very slowly growing variety with a hemispherical habit, reaching only about 30 cm in height after 30 years of cultivation. Small, bright green, shiny leaves. Recommended for planting in rockeries.
Evergreen boxwood varieties
- 'Marginata' - a dense shrub with erect, straight stems and an egg-shaped habit, after 10 years of cultivation it grows up to 1.3 m high and 0.8 m wide. Thick shoots, leaf blades 2.5 cm long, gray-green with an irregular golden border. The tips of the leaflets are round, often deformed.
- 'Aureovariegata' - bush habit, leaves ovate, slightly elongated, bright in spring, intensely yellow-cream, later green, variously striped and speckled with yellow spots. A variety grown in Great Britain already in the 18th century, recommended for shady and semi-shaded places.
- 'Blauer Heinz' - a compact spherical shrub. After 10 years, it reaches about 0.4 m in diameter. The leaves are about 2 cm long, covered with a bluish bloom, densely attached to the shoots, and green in winter. A valuable and valuable variety.
- 'Elegantissima' - a small, compact shrub with upright shoots and an egg-shaped habit, growing up to 1 m high and 0.5 m wide after 10 years of cultivation.Dark green elliptical leaves, up to 2.5 cm long, with a light, cream, irregular margin. In 1993, he was awarded the AGM award.
- 'Kraków' - Polish hemispherical boxwood variety with elongated, lanceolate, light green leaves, arranged flat on thin twigs. It grows up to 1.5 m.
- 'Rotundifolia' - a wide, vigorously growing shrub with a spherical shape, growing up to 2.5-4 m after many years. Leaves almost round, 2.5 cm long, bluish-green, shiny. Variety recommended for creating geometric forms and garden sculptures.
- 'Suffruticosa' - dwarf shrub growing up to 1 m. Small leaves, 1-2 cm long, oval, indented at the apex. A variety awarded with the AGM award, not only for special tasks.
