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Box, Box, Box

November 16th, 2015

I talked last week about propagation and how great a skill it is to learn. This weekend I spent a half hour or so taking 100 boxwood cuttings from two different varieties. I’ve been wanting to do this for a few years, but I’ve been forgetting to do it until the garden is covered in snow.
propagating boxwood 1
I have a huge garden now and I need lots of plants to fill it. I’m especially in need of hedges to help tame the wildness of this garden and add a little structure and definition to all the different spaces. While I plan to use a variety of plants for the hedges, boxwood is going to be a main plant because it’s so easy to propagate.
propagating boxwood 2
I have ‘Wintergreen’ and ‘Green Mountain’ boxwood, both look decent without pruning, which is a bonus. I’m not positive that I want a crisply pruned hedge, and I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to actually prune the hedges.
propagating boxwood 3
Generally, I have great success rooting boxwood. It’s much later than I usually take cuttings. These will go in the basement on a heating mat and hopefully that will increase my success rate. If not, I’m not going to lose anything but a bit of time. If I have good success I save myself quite a bundle.
boxwood_start_with_roots
Typically, I take them in August and let them root for a few weeks before planting them in the garden. I have read that they can be rooted directly in the garden, I’ll definitely be trying that next year! Propagating hedge plants is something I need to prioritize when it comes to garden chores, in the coming years I’ll be glad I took the time to get them going.

What did you do in the garden this weekend?

6 Comments to “Box, Box, Box”
  1. Laura @ Raise Your Garden on November 16, 2015 at 8:22 am

    My husband and I actually worked really good together this weekend in the garden. We took down all the solar lights, put the tomato cages away and fixed the garden path. Love propagating because like you said, if it works you save so much $$$. 100 boxwood cuttings. Wow!!! Good of you =)

    Reply to Laura @ Raise Your Garden's comment

  2. Meg on November 16, 2015 at 8:26 am

    I love boxwood. Is that vermiculite in the pots or a sandy mix? I can’t tell and I generally only use it for seed starting. Also do you use rooting hormone on your cuttings? I’m always interested in learning new methods.

    Reply to Meg's comment

    • Susy on November 16, 2015 at 1:21 pm

      It’s sand mixed with vermiculite.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  3. Kyle on November 16, 2015 at 11:48 am

    We had a major storm, followed by uncharacteristic snow. I mainly just watched my “charity” mahonia blooming through the snow! That storm is getting followed up with a windstorm. For Western Washington, this means that all of the ground that just got flooding-level saturated is unlikely to be able to keep the big trees in place and we’re looking a big-deal tree falling event over the next 72 hours.

    Reply to Kyle's comment

  4. Chris on November 16, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    Boxwood cuttings make a pretty wreath and or nice in an arrangement of greens for the house. I was also thinking of creating some borders, etc. with them but too much pruning throughout the year prevented that plan from getting “rooted” I like a hedge that doesn’t require a lot of pruning and that has a bit more natural look to it!
    Hey, you may be able to sell those starts, if you can’t use them all! :)

    Reply to Chris's comment

  5. Nebraska Dave on November 18, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    Susy, I have a row of boxwood hedge plants along the front of my house. I really like them now that they are grown. It’s taken almost seven years to get them to about four feet in height. They are a slow growing hedge but really look good when mature.

    Have a great boxwood hedge rooting day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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