Caring for My Boxwood
Late summer continues to be very busy. My outdoor grounds crew and gardeners are all working very hard to keep everything looking its best.
I love boxwood, Buxus, and have hundreds of these bold green shrubs growing all over my farm. I take very special care of these specimens. In winter, they are covered in a layer of protective burlap, and this time of year, they are carefully pruned and groomed. Maintaining these plantings requires extra maintenance from time to time, but I think it’s well worth the effort.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Boxwood can be used in borders, as hedges, and planted in layers to create depth and texture. These boxwood shrubs surround my herbaceous peony garden bed.
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- This is my sunken Summer House Garden – a more formal garden with both English and American boxwood.
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- In 2017, I decided to line both sides of my clematis pergola with boxwood. There are more than 300-shrubs planted here, and they continue to thrive.
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- Last spring I planted this boxwood border along the carriage road across from the pergola on one side of my Stewartia garden.
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- Many of the shrubs start off in this “nursery” located next to my chicken coops. The soil is rich with nutrients, so they grew well and quickly.
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- Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.
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- Phurba Sherpa is my resident boxwood pruning expert. He has been with me for many years – in fact, he helped plant a lot of the boxwood shrubs around the property.
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- Twice a year, we groom and prune the boxwood. This is always done with hand shears to give them a more clean and manicured appearance.
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- I prefer this method of trimming because the cuts are very clean and smooth.
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- Everyone on my crew uses Japanese Okatsune shears specially made for trimming hedges and borders. These shears are user friendly and come in a range of sizes.
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- To groom the tops and sides, Phurba keeps the shears close with his hands spread along the base of the handles if the shears are short and midway down the handles if they are longer. This allows the best control.
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- Here is the back of the herbaceous peony garden – the boxwood here has grown so well in part because of all the meticulous pruning and grooming.
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- Here’s Phurba pruning the great Boxwood Allée. Here, one can see the newest growth that is being cut. Boxwoods are slow growing compared to many other shrubs, with growth rate depending on the variety. Typically, the growth rate for most varieties is three to six inches per year.
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- Here is another angle with one side of a shrub pruned and the other side still to do.
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- Phurba also grooms the tops of the tall boxwood. He uses an orchard ladder designed for these kinds of tasks. It is portable and self-supporting, with a flared base and a tripod pole that provides support on soft, uneven ground.
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- Occasionally, Phurba stops to sharpen his shears. I always impress upon the crew to take good care of the equipment and tools.
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- He uses a simple blade sharpener that removes dirt and restores the cutting edge. It is important to sharpen both blades especially if the shears have two cutting edges.
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- Any pruned debris is gathered and brought to the compost pile later.
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- It can take weeks to get this summer project done, but Phurba does an excellent job trimming and shaping each and every boxwood.
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- From one end, this 450-foot Boxwood Allée looks great. It runs from my stable all the way to the carriage road that leads to my hayfields and woodlands. The next project, the boxwood on my Winter House Terrace Parterre. Good job, Phurba!
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