60yo Buxus??

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The Surgeon
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60yo Buxus??

Post by The Surgeon »

I picked up these Buxus a couple of months ago from a guy who said they were 60 years old. He had them for 25 years and his mum for 35 years before that. Not sure how accurate that info is but they do look old.
IMG_2508.JPG
Not much foliage down low due to the location they were kept in, basically just trimmed at the top and kept in a barrel under a tree, so not much direct sunlight. The trunks look old and are quite big and gnarly.

i don't have much experience with Buxus so I have a couple of questions:
Do buxus bud on old wood?
Do they suffer from severe dieback?
Will chopping them lower encourage new growth lower?

thanks
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by Watto »

Hi,
In my experience with buxus the answers to your questions are - Yes, No and Yes.
Good luck with them.
Check out my blog at http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/blog/Watto" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by shibui »

I haven't grown buxus but from what I hear Watto is correct. These things do bud well which is why they are used for hedging.
I'd be inclined to leave them as they are now. I think you should see masses of buds all down the trunk after the pruning they have already had. The extra trunk mass should help feed the new roots and get them re-established. You can chop again later in summer if they grow well or next spring if they are a bit slower.
In any case you have a few to play with so you could chop some and leave the rest and report on the results.
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by The Surgeon »

Thanks Watto and Shibui

Will let them do their thing for the next couple of months

Cheers
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by robb63 »

Hi Sergeon
I have 2 nearly as old that I have had in grow boxes a few years now.
One just moved to a bonsai pot recently because I lost patience cutting back and waiting for new shoots.
Mine spent over 30 years in big concrete pots at a local nursery, so well looked after and healthy.
Since their first hard cutback and root prune to fit into a styro box they have failed to shoot from the trunks.
So far the only trunk shoots I have are the ones I saved by not cutting past them. Some parts I cut all the
green from over a year ago are still bare as.
I do think the English box do better in colder climate like your so look forward to see if you have luck
Here in Sydney I have had no luck getting new shoots and am sorry I cut off some green branches that
looking back now I might have been able to use. While looking for info on old box, on line
I did read an interesting account from a UK grower. He said he put his old English box back in the ground for
2 years and got shoots from 50+ year old wood that refused to shoot in a pot.
Look forward to your results, hope you have better luck than me so far
cheers. Bob
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by bonborn »

I have in my possession 14 buxus of around the same age. Mine have also failed to develop shoots on the main trunk though grows well on the existing branches. I cut one back really hard to just the main trunk and that died shortly after. They take well to root pruning though but sulk big time.
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by The Surgeon »

Thanks Bob and Bonbon.

Not exactly the information i wanted to read. :( but good to know.

I'll leave them be for spring and see what comes of them. :fc:
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by bonborn »

How did your buxus go. I defoliated one of mine as an experiment and it died. Buxus of this age where they go white on the trunk do not backbud on the trunk but still do so on existing branches if cut gradually.
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by Hal »

Collected these a couple of years ago from a demolition site. I found old buxus respond better with back buds from gradual branch cutting tactics as opposed to drastic cuttings after collection, particularly if you want back bud near the base. Weekly feeds of diluted Seasol or Powerfeed will do wonder. Just like my hedging I trim back every couple of months in growing season. Hopefully these will be good specimens for Shohin in 2-3 years.

Few back buds after 6 months
006a.jpg
2 years in pot, gradual selected branch cut back after 1 year growth
008.JPG
009.JPG
010.JPG
011.JPG
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Re: 60yo Buxus??

Post by Hal »

...not sure what happened to the pics...here they are..

Few back buds after 6 months
006a.jpg
2 years in pot, gradual selected branch cut back after 1 year growth
008.JPG
009.JPG
010.JPG
011.JPG
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