Buxus As Bonsai?


© David J. Bockman

Boxwood make exceptionally long-lived bonsai. Many varieties of Buxus work very well and have been cultivated as bonsai for decades, but for the purposes of this article we shall address Korean Boxwood and Kingsville Boxwood-- two very popular types with which to work.

In my opinion, boxwoods are best used as informal uprights, or other more conventional styles. Although the tree could be used to emulate another species using the windswept style, it could be a bit of a 'stretch' design-wise.

I have several buxus in my collection, and can offer up these observations, both gleaned from reading material and my own conclusions.

Korean boxwood is an extremely slow growing evergreen shrub. It is almost impervious to pests and diseases. Of particular beauty is the pale buff bark, which takes on interesting rivulets and whorls as the tree matures.

This tree grows extremely slowly, as I stated before, but is quite amendable to hard pruning and will bud back, given adequate sunlight, feed, and water. I grow mine in full sun, in a fast draining soil of sifted Terragreen and rotted oak leaf (4 to 1, respectively.) The first tree (estimated age 40 years) was hard pruned almost down to the main trunk, with probably 10% of the original foliage mass remaining. All major pruning cuts were carefully reduced and sealed with Callousmate. One must balance energy carefully with box, because the tree will direct energy towards closing wounds rather than budding back or pushing top growth. Never hard prune near an area where you would like the tree to pop-- it will not happen until the wound is closed some years hence. Just leave stubs or stripped branches until the properly placed buds have formed and made several sets of leaves. Rub off unwanted buds. The inner branches must receive sunlight and ventilation if they are to bud. Often this means deep pruning to lighten and open up the dense 'clouds' of foliage which are common to the species. Bring sharp tools and big forearms to the job-- boxwood is an amazingly dense wood and difficult to hard prune. Incidentally, boxwood is sometimes seen as the material on woodworking (especially carving) tools; it's used for handles because of its density and toughness.

The other tree I have is a Kingsville Box, about 60 years old. It has a more compact growth habit, is even more slow growing, and is less winter hardy. This tree really likes to make dense foliage masses which screen out the inner branches and cause dieback. Be vigilant in keeping these inner areas well-lit and ventilated.

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