Ideas for Buxus in garden

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Keels
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Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by Keels »

Hey guys. I have this boxwood growing in the garden seems like it fairly old. It was really overgrown so I trimmed it back n cleaned it up a bit. I was thinking it might look good as a clump style bonsai one day. I havent dug it out yet. Hoping to see what others think.
buxusbeforetrim.jpg
buxustrimmed.jpg
I've been researching and thinking something like the photo below.
images (4).jpg
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Last edited by Keels on November 4th, 2017, 2:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by Slatzy »

Hi Keels, looks like it has real potential. Ide personally start with scraping the soil away more to check out the nebari then go from there. take some closer pics of the branch structure, the pic doesn't really show much.
Cheers slatz.
Last edited by Slatzy on November 5th, 2017, 5:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by shibui »

We can't see all the detail of the trunks and angles from 2d photos but many garden grown plants can yield good material for bonsai and this one looks good from what I can see.
Just because it has multiple trunks now does not mean that multi trunk will always be the best style. Multi trunk is complicated because to look good all the trunks need to have similar shape and complimentary angles.
Some of these trunks may have some surface roots of their own so you might be able to separate some as individual trees. Trees with lots of trunks can always be reduced to fewer trunks. If the trunks you have don't look good together then some will need to be cut off to give a good bonsai. Point is don't get too hung up on multi trunk style. Look for the best bonsai in the material you have.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by Keels »

Hey guys I've added a few more pictures. Your right the one I posted really didn't help. Have a look at the ones below now :tu:
toplookingdown.jpg
toplookingdown_2.jpg
front base 1.jpg
base 2.jpg
branches.jpg
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by Keels »

shibui wrote:We can't see all the detail of the trunks and angles from 2d photos but many garden grown plants can yield good material for bonsai and this one looks good from what I can see.
Just because it has multiple trunks now does not mean that multi trunk will always be the best style. Multi trunk is complicated because to look good all the trunks need to have similar shape and complimentary angles.
Some of these trunks may have some surface roots of their own so you might be able to separate some as individual trees. Trees with lots of trunks can always be reduced to fewer trunks. If the trunks you have don't look good together then some will need to be cut off to give a good bonsai. Point is don't get too hung up on multi trunk style. Look for the best bonsai in the material you have.
Hi Shibui. I've added a few extra photos now. The branches all seem to come from the one point. I haven't seen any with their own roots yet. I differently believe some of the branches can be removed. Let me know what you think with the new photos now. Thanks
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by shibui »

I think you are right about these ones. There does not appear to be any trunks with roots that can easily be separated.
The left trunks on front base 1 could be split away from the rest if you really wanted but probably not really worth while.

Even with good photos I find it hard to offer suggestions. Photos don't give a good look at perspective and depth so it is hard to decide whether its possible to cut back to a smaller branch which may or may not be growing from that trunk.

From what I can see you are going to need to be innovative to deal with the lack of taper in these trunks. There are a few with quite promising movement but, again, hard to assess when you can't see the 3d direction of the movement.

I'm sure there is something that can be done with these but I can't give anything definite from the photos. These would be great for a workshop with a visiting expert if your club runs workshops.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by Keels »

I was looking at some of my old posts this arvo and thought i better update this thread. :reading:

The old buxus has come a long way since i first posted it.

I dug the tree out of the front yard of my old rental around july 2017. I didnt keep many photos of how that went but i have a few where the tree is in the back ground. Dont be put off by the cat, she is actually a master at bonsai but thats a story for another day :lol:
bonsaikeelz_20200317_170100_1.jpg
bonsaikeelz_20200317_170505_0.jpg
From that date to now the tree has been regularly feed and watered. I've only done a minor trim this year to open up the tree to let in some light to save the interior branches.

This is how it looks today. Its really starting to fill out. Its sure has come a long way since 2017.
IMG_20200317_165429_copy_1094x1459.jpg
IMG_20200317_165443_copy_1094x1459.jpg
IMG_20200317_165451_copy_1094x1459.jpg
IMG_20200317_165419_copy_1094x1459.jpg
IMG_20200317_165405_copy_1094x1459.jpg
IMG_20200317_165338_copy_1094x1459.jpg
IMG_20200317_165328_copy_684x912.jpg

I think the branches are starting to get a little age to them? I think its about to flower as well which is exciting.
IMG_20200317_165457_copy_1094x820.jpg
IMG_20200317_165516_copy_1094x1459.jpg
Well thats my update. I'm planning on moving this beast into a bonsai pot very soon. I managed to pick some up at the recent ausbonsai market. Ill update when that happens i guess.

As always input in always welcome. Cheers guys.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by matlea »

Looking healthier than mine! I had my one in a bonsai pot but it started to get yellow tips on the leaves. Back into the ground and it's healthier now. Anyone know what would cause yellowing tips of leaves?
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by TimS »

matlea wrote: March 17th, 2020, 5:26 pm Looking healthier than mine! I had my one in a bonsai pot but it started to get yellow tips on the leaves. Back into the ground and it's healthier now. Anyone know what would cause yellowing tips of leaves?
Lime deficiency is quite common in buxus and presents with yellowing leaves. Use Dolomite lime and it should perk up again.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by shibui »

Not sure about lime deficiency. As far as I am aware calcium deficiency is seen mostly in fruits and not so much in leaves.
I do know that yellow leaves on plants, especially plants in soilless potting mix, is often referred to as lime induced chlorosis. It is actually an iron deficiency and is worse when pH is high (too much lime). Iron deficiency affects younger leaves first as iron is immobile so the plant cannot move it from older leaves to help the new ones. Lime induced chlorosis is usually corrected by adding Chelated iron or Iron sulphate or lowering the pH - usually by addition of sulphur. Adding lime would make the problem worse so try to make sure of the problem before taking corrective action.

Magnesium deficiency can also cause yellow leaves but as Mg can be moved by the plant it is seen more in older leaves while younger tips are OK. Dolomite contains Magnesium so could help correct Mg deficiency.

It is hard to make meaningful styling advice from a few photos but the tree does look like it has plenty of potential with lots of nice short shoots close to the trunk and plenty of trunk options.
Look forward to seeing what happens to this one.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by Keels »

matlea wrote: March 17th, 2020, 5:26 pm Looking healthier than mine! I had my one in a bonsai pot but it started to get yellow tips on the leaves. Back into the ground and it's healthier now. Anyone know what would cause yellowing tips of leaves?
Hi matlea,

You should start your own thread on your tree. As you can see alot of members give some pretty good advice.
shibui wrote: March 17th, 2020, 6:21 pm Not sure about lime deficiency. As far as I am aware calcium deficiency is seen mostly in fruits and not so much in leaves.
I do know that yellow leaves on plants, especially plants in soilless potting mix, is often referred to as lime induced chlorosis. It is actually an iron deficiency and is worse when pH is high (too much lime). Iron deficiency affects younger leaves first as iron is immobile so the plant cannot move it from older leaves to help the new ones. Lime induced chlorosis is usually corrected by adding Chelated iron or Iron sulphate or lowering the pH - usually by addition of sulphur. Adding lime would make the problem worse so try to make sure of the problem before taking corrective action.

Magnesium deficiency can also cause yellow leaves but as Mg can be moved by the plant it is seen more in older leaves while younger tips are OK. Dolomite contains Magnesium so could help correct Mg deficiency.
As you can see i think neil hit it on the head for you. Good luck with it :tu:
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by Simra »

Hi ,
It look amazing and eye catching and I was looking to decor my bedroom with small buxus but it is little confusing as I havent seen anyone done this before ,I am designing it for many months as I decor my room green even bought my sheet sets in lime green.
I like to know is it safe to set in a bedroom in a such a place where sunlight can touch them through window.
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Re: Ideas for Buxus in garden

Post by matlea »

Hi keels, thanks and yes I’ll make a thread once I take it out of the ground again. Sorry to hijack.
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