Small fat Buxus harlandii

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

A buxus that I had been ignoring for many years. It fattened up nicely with benign neglect and then 2 years ago was cut down hard, allowed to sprout freely and then put into a large growing pot for a season.

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It was then moved to the smaller but still chunky grey pot above; and then today into the shallower brown pot below.

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i lightly trimmed it back about 2 weeks ago and am leaving it a bit fluffy to settle in quickly into its new pot and I will do another light trim in about 6 to 8 weeks time.

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It measures about 27cm from the top of the pot to the top of the tree. I am working on a lot of Shohin trees now.



Grant

[Thymetraveller]

Sweet tree!
Can you chop buxus below the first branch?

[Grant Bowie]

Sweet tree!
Can you chop buxus below the first branch?

I believe you can but best to sneak up on it over a few years and force it to bud back with a series of hard pruning IMO.

Clip and grow. Then less need for wiring etc, just thin out.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Sweet tree!
Can you chop buxus below the first branch?

I believe you can but best to sneak up on it over a few years and force it to bud back with a series of hard pruning IMO.

Clip and grow. Then less need for wiring etc, just thin out.

Grant

[Sean M]

I love these trees. After convincing myself not to buy any trees on our last bus trip I bought 2 of these.
I can also relate to shohin, easier on the lower extremities.

[Mojo Moyogi]

I am working on a lot of Shohin trees now.

I'm biased, but that's great news

Cheers,
Mojo

[Thymetraveller]

Sweet tree!
Can you chop buxus below the first branch?

I believe you can but best to sneak up on it over a few years and force it to bud back with a series of hard pruning IMO.

Clip and grow. Then less need for wiring etc, just thin out.

Grant

Thanks Grant!
I really like buxus.
I'm putting together a forest planting over the weekend, which I will post on the forum.

[bodhidharma]

Nicely ignored Grant. You have inspired me to start ignoring more of my tree's.

[Grant Bowie]

Nicely ignored Grant. You have inspired me to start ignoring more of my tree's.

Ignoring trees while they thicken up can lead to many pleasant surprises.

I got 3 of these plants from Tess Simpson in QLD in about 2008 and they would have been about 2 years old and just skinny sticks. They did get moved up to 8" / 200mm pots over time but had no training for about 6 years.

I then noticed that the trunks had swollen massively and would make good small bonsai. I cut them back and left them for about 6 months to sprout lots of foliage and then moved them into shallower and broader bonsai pots for a year, then did a heavy root prune and into the grey pot for a year and now after another root prune into the shallow brown pot.

They throw out a lot of branching all over the plant so I just thinned out the unnecessary branching but kept as much as I could. I have trimmed them a couple of times this year as they are quite vigorous.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Next one of three,

Same story as above and in a deeper and bigger pot than necessary.

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It was a snug fit into the pot but the curve of the pot accommodated the roots nicely. Next repot a few mm to the left after a bit of trunk/heavy root is pared back.

Now for some aftercare. A seasol dip, a shady protected spot for a few weeks and then out into a sunnier spot.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Last one.

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This one was able to go into the final size pot last year.

Grant

[Kevin]

Nice work Grant,
I loved your buxus story, it reminded me of this old photo i spied this morning circa 2003.
I cursed myself remembering my Buxus hedge, i grew these myself and approximately 10 years in the ground, before the wife converted the pool to saltwater and they all perished with not a thought to save for bonsai.
Although i did grow another dozen for the in - laws about 10 years ago - i wonder if they need a transplant?
Kevin
The potensai in the front is another story, i grew it too - all i remember is ..... nana.

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[Grant Bowie]

Update

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Grant

[Grant Bowie]

I bought a pot from Graham at the the CBS meeting on Saturday for one of the buxus and repotted it yesterday.

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Another Buxus has matured quite nicely in its big pot and I am considering potting down into a smaller pot. What do you think?

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Grant

[BB Brian]

Hi Grant,

I purchased a Buxus Harlandii a few months ago, cut it back hard, there is a fair bit of new growth now, should I be pinching all the leaves that are not needed on the trunk?

Cheers in advance.