Korean Boxwoods – Are They Worth It?
Boxwood’s are a great contribution to a formal garden landscape. They really can be shaped into almost any design your heart can think of. They are also great performers in the garden, looking lush and green year round even in a northern climate. Yes, boxwoods desire some attention and some TLC will be mandatory. Follow these easy steps to maintain beautiful boxwoods year round:
1. Keep from mix matching your boxwood hedge. If you have an existing boxwood hedge it is entirely possible that you will have trouble finding the exact match to what is already there. In that case look for something that has a similar leaf. Just like with flowers, there are a variety of choices and what looks good together can vary, so examine what the green house has, see what looks good together and make your decisions accordingly. Over and above the ending results could be getting mixed variety looks which include: lighter colored greens with darker colored greens, not to mention also the sizing variations!
2. Each region is different, so doing some research before constructing your new boxwood hedge designs is solid advice. You will be better off if you can get a nice boxwood that is healthy, hearty and vivacious.Northern climates are great for Korean Boxwoods because this variety is impervious to shrubbery disease.
3. The third thing to discuss here is getting about a half of a cup (per plant) of nice acidic (organic please) fertilizer that has peat, compost, dehydrated manuer and some of that special evergreen food and get it all around the bases of your boxwoods. You are going to want to maintain good root coverage, so it’s good idea to refresh fresh soil.
4. Note that boxwood trimming can be fairly simple and there are some things you’ll want to know too. One – let that precious spring growth firm up a while before you begin thinking of triming it down first second you have and don’t, seriously, commense to cuttin the buggers in the end of the fall. If you prune in the fall you’ll get dead looking spots in the spring. Poorly [keptmaintained] boxes will brown up and look even worse in the winter when they stand out even more. Better they be a little shaggy than dead looking.
5. Because the root system of Boxwoods’ are so shallow, they can dry out to quick. So always remember to mulch your boxwood’s. This is going to help the boxes roots to retain the water they do get and protect them. The flip side of this is to be careful not to over mulch them to the point where you have buried the base of the plant and you end up creating a rotten bark situation that could ultimately kill the bush. All things in moderation is a fine law to live by even in the garden.
6.Be on the look out for fungal diseases on your boxes. While they are generally vigorous they can fall victim to few problems. The problem with your boxwoods may be disease symptoms and not simply damage from winter so you’ll want to do some researching. Most diseases can be easily cured with a fungicide spray or an oil soap spray depending on what you are dealing with: mold or insect. Just make sure you diagnose the problem correctly before you start spraying chemicals all over the place. If all else fails just dig it out and replace the offending bush before it contaminates the rest of your hedge. One plant is inexpensive to replace, an entire hedge gets really expensive.
Good luck and enjoy the lush evergreen of your boxes in your formal or not so formal landscape-they are always a great shrub choice for any garden.
To find a wide seleciton of home and garden decor to accent your landscapes, be sure to check out Cool Garden Things with their recycled glass gazing balls and Bird Brain fire pots.
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