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Trimming buxus/taking cuttings

Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
edited June 2020 in Plants
I have 4 box balls and this will be the first year I've had them through a full growing season.

I'm looking to expand their size and use them for cuttings. Rather than trimming them twice (now and then again in August/September) would it be fine to only trim them once in August? That will give good material for cuttings as the current growth isn't really long enough.


Posts

  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    Bump.


  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    I have 6, each in excess of 90cm diameter. To keep them nice I trim after Derby Day and again in autumn though the second trim is just a quick tidy. I have had other box which I didn't take such good care of (they were cheap and cheerful unlike the ones I have now which certainly weren't cheap). When I didn't trim them early enough, I.e. in the school summer holidays, they soon lost their shape, possibly because the tops grew more than the sides and the wood became too ripe before trimming. (These were trimmed last week.)
    They do grow very slowly - I never cut all the new growth off, but they won't be allowed to get much bigger. If they were quicker growing, they wouldn't be so expensive!
    Perhaps you could leave a small area which is more out of sight to use for cuttings whilst trimming the rest, keeping them in reasonable shape. I never did get my small supermarket box balls to increase in size and they were never spherical, so good luck.
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    The old saying is to trim box before Derby day. When I needed cutting of box I bought a couple of £2 plants and used them for cuttings. I got enough to plant a little hedge about 15ft+ long so probably 3doz+ cuttings. Can't remember if I got all the cuttings the same year but I think I did. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    I thought it was don't trim before Derby day? Sure someone has said that on here fairly recently.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    You can take cuttings without spoiling the balls, take them from all around the plants evenly, and if you give the foliage a pat down it will fall back into place. Might even help improve aeration within the plants.

    Although tbh bare root box is so cheap I would probably just order some this autumn and be done with it.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    @Dirty Harry I would agree that it is after Derby Day as in my post. I think that the idea is to give it time to get going in the spring and before the wood gets too mature. It also means that they look bright too.
    I'm a sucker for propagating plants even though I end up giving them away, a hereditary problem learned from my mum who raised thousands of pounds for charity doing plant stalls using excess plants from the garden, but box is so slow growing that I wouldn't bother with trying to grow this from cuttings. I tried to get some small ones from the supermarket to make large specimens but they take such a long time I gave up. Life is too short, you might as well get some which have made a start. Years ago, when box blight started, I saw a bit on TV Gardener's World about doing topiary with another shrub which had similar small leaves and was much quicker growing. I can picture the darned thing but can't remember its name.
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    I suspect you might be meaning Baggesen's Gold?

    To be honest given it's easy enough I fancy taking cuttings. I took a load last year from the mother-in-laws box hedges and around half have survived.

    Always got half an eye on the future for when I eventually get a house with the girlfriend so could end up being handy to have a load of free box plants. Nothing to lose.
  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You have the right attitude and it sounds a lifetime to develop a mature garden and propagation is certainly a cheap and often rewarding way forward. I wish you well in your endeavours. 
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