Tips and tricks

Tips and tricks for caring for your buxus plants.

Buxus Care

I was taught as an apprentice that Plants are very much like humans both requiring Food Water and Shelter. Like humans if a plant is happy (healthy) it is far less likely to succumb to pests and diseases.

Food

Buxus require regular feeding particularly that period of intense growth in the spring. Most fertlisers have around a 3 month useful life so the first application is in August with a second around the end of November. A third application in early March to set your plants up for the Autumn/Winter.

Remember as with all plants the feeding roots are under the drip line of the plant (the outer extremity of the leaves) feeding close to the base of the plant can cause damage to the trunk.

Commercial Nurseries use coated fertilisers to give an even release of nutrients like Osmocote or Triabon, applied at recommended rates.

Water

The easiest way to see if a plant is dry or wet is simply scrape away a small amount of soil on the surface with your finger. You will quickly tell if the soil is damp or dry. Usually watering a plant does not involve wetting the foliage but instead giving the soil a good soak when needed. You can still overwater plants so use the finger test as a guide. Remember too that trimming plants creates dense foliage which be hard for light rain to penetrate.

Shelter

Position is important Buxus prefers a cooler position but does like to see the sun for at least part of the day.

Trimming

1. Choose an overcast day without rain so as to not cause burning to the new leaves you expose as you trim.
2. Always keep your trimming tools clean and sharp. A tip I have found is to use a spray container with clean water and about 10% canola oil in it and spray your tools with it as you go. The black build up won’t stick and your tools will stay clean and lubricated. (You will need to give it a shake to mix in the oil)
3. Trim plants in November and another in March to tidy them up for the Winter
4. I do not use mechanical trimmers but am amazed how many I see that are put away each time uncleaned, allowing fungus and bacteria spores to multiply and then spread to wherever it is used on its next visit to the garden.

Pests

The only real pest is scale insects. To control them we find Horticultural Spraying oils (Conqueror Oil) controls scale. These can best be sprayed over the winter because if they are clean going into the growing season they will perform well.

Diseases

There is a product called Top Buxus which has been developed in Europe. More information can be found here www.topbuxus.co.nz