Buxus, overdue repot

[MelaQuin]

My twin trunk Buxus harlandii has been incredibly slow growing this year, its lack of development has really put me off the tree. On top of that, I looked at the tree and couldn't believe that I would have potted it so high in the pot. It's great talking about irritations at a bonsai workshop. One bloke told me that trees will push themselves up if they are root bound. Despite the fact that Sydney is cooling for winter I prised the tree out of the pot and absolutely could not believe my eyes. the Buxus is about 16 cm tall. There was about 3 cm of compacted root UNDER the drainage mesh that rapidly expanded when it got some freedom. I left more than enough roots on the tree to ensure it will suffer no setback with the late repot and will do a proper root prune in spring. What really amazed me was the vibrant health of the roots.

Buxus 1 roots.jpg

buxus 2 roots.jpg

I think it is fairly obvious that it missed out on spring 2009 repot.

[Jamie]

hi mel

i really like buxus as a species and the harlandii i especially like for the corky bark! they do get a very stringy sort of a root system, i cant comment to much now on how they are as everything i thought i had learnt about them completly changed when i got my biggest one and it did the complete opposite to the other two i had, they hated getting root pruned and didnt like smaller pots, i put my bigger one in a grow box and it basically was growing well but not how i thought it would. i decided to pot it up and develop in a pot even knowing that it would slow down, but since going in the pot it has powered on, so im not sure.

very interesting species and that is a nice specimen mell, it will look great when the apex fills out which i have noticed is the hardest to get right on them.

jamie

[Watto]

Thanks for the photos and the story Mel. This has given me the spur to do a bit with the Buxus I have in a black plastic pot. Although where I live the growth is not that quick!

[craigw60]

Hi Mel, I think box is one of those species which could need to be repotted twice yearly as they are so rampant in their root growth. Many box plants are sold bare rooted in winter so I don't think a winter or late autumn root prune would cause any trauma at all. Where I live I see ute loads of them going past all the time completely bare rooted starting now and going all through the winter.
Craig

[bodhidharma]

Well, on the plus side Mel, It just goes to show how well you look after your trees with that much growth in one season.