Boxwood Emergency

Hi

I need advice on how to save my boxwood pincushion.
It's a nursery stock 5-gallons. Thought the the trunk was nice and nebari forming already.
I am new to Bonsai and first time to try nursery stock transformation.

I have been thinking a lot what to do with it style wise. So I played with it on Photoshop.
Made a quick drawing on the top left....But it is different when you are doing it..

There were many branches and I kept eliminating more and more and ended up with the no leaves and only main branches. There are so many open prune wounds and I applied a lot of pruning ointment that I got from the nursery. I don't even have concave branch cutter, just kinda forced my snipping shears.

Will it die? How do I save it? Fertilize? Put it in shade? Put a plastic bag over it?
Argh what have I done?! :S

https://i.servimg.com/u/f35/19/42/58/80/boxwoo10.jpg

Should it be in partial shade for the next 2 weeks? or should it get the most sun it can?

"There were many branches and I kept eliminating more and more and ended up with the no leaves and only main branches"

Just wondering, sort of new at this, myself, but why would you "eliminate", every sign of life from that tree, in the month of June? does this make it stronger, somehow?

Couldn't leave it alone? Just kept picking at it?
That boxwood is a goner!

would be nice if you can add some pictures, so we can see what you are talking about. I got about 10 boxwood Buxus harlandii. One was an upper branch cut put into soil, it rooted nicely and shows new growth.

M. Frary wrote:  Couldn't leave it alone? Just kept picking at it?
That boxwood is a goner!

Ah, it'll grow grow back, with lots more branches, hopefully.

Put it in a spot where it gets plenty of shade, make sure you don't let it dry out - but also don't over water it.

I am confident it will send out some buds pretty soon, as these are tough and there's plenty of stored energy in the roots for it to produce a good few leaves this summer. Just do not do anything at all to it for a season or even 2 depending on what grows.

PS - nice bit of material with decent potential.

BrendanR wrote:Put it in a spot where it gets plenty of shade, make sure you don't let it dry out - but also don't over water it.

I am confident it will send out some buds pretty soon, as these are tough and there's plenty of stored energy in  the roots for it to produce a good few leaves this summer.  Just do not do anything at all to it for a season or even 2 depending on what grows.

PS - nice bit of material with decent potential.

Thanks for the advice. I am really hopeful too because I really like this little tree.

When you said to give it plenty of shade... How much shade? No direct sunlight at all? How about ambient light?

The person from the nursery also suggested that I could fertilize it with a multipurpose kind but with a higher Nitrogen content (the first number?) to help push out buds faster he said. What do you think of this advice?

Out of the sun altogether. I would put it somewhere where it gets light but no sun for about 4 - 7 days. Then it can go into partial sun for a few hours if it has not started budding.

No fertiliser at all until there are leaves. It can't use the food and it may even poison it. Also, food comes in water, and you may have a problem with overwatering and retentive medium.

It is gloomy and about to rain today in Toronto. Kinda humind too.
Will the boxwood benefit from some direct rain? I could put it along the edge of the balcony, on the lower part. So it wont be getting that much rain as if it was planted in an open garden.

Thanks guys for the advices so far

It does not need water unless the pot is dry, as there are no leaves to cause transpiration - the process where water comes in via the roots and out via the leaves. If it is too wet the roots will rot - you need to get it budding and then in leaf before you can allow it to regulate it's own water needs.

Light sun - early morning or late afternoon only, and watering by hand only as needed are the best way to get it to bounce back.

Thanks so much for all your help guys, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

I will follow your advice and keep you updated. Please help me with my Jap Maple, just posted a forum.

Here are new pictures of the boxwood.

Hi, Can you tell us about the soil the boxwood is in? It looks very heavy which is not conducive to root and leaf growth. Boxwoods like well drained bonsai soil. If you have questions about the best soil mix , talk to some club members. I'll bet there would even be someone who knows where to buy what you need.

There are also many books on bonsai....I've found several in used book stores and most will describe the best soil mixes.

Best of luck, Norma

This tree can't take another abuse - do not repot it unless it survives the summer, covers itself in leaves and then maybe you can repot it in late winter. But don't do anything to it now.

Brendan.... Read what I wrote again! No where did I tell Imma.. to repot! He needs to educate himself on the right kind of soil to use with boxwoods and get help from people who will help him determine when and how to repot. And ,yes, for the health of what's left of his boxwood,he may be forced to "repot" but with the aid of someone at the Bonsai Club in his area who can see the tree and help him.

Norma

Hi Norma

No, you did not suggest that, but I guess that someone might take your observation and stretch it to a suggestion.  Given the number of trees I have killed, I wanted to whip that temptation away.



Cheers

Brendan

Norma wrote:Hi,  Can you tell us about the soil the boxwood is in?   It looks very heavy which is not conducive to root and leaf growth.  Boxwoods like well drained bonsai soil.   If you have questions about the best soil mix , talk to some club members.  I'll bet there would even be someone who knows where to  buy what you need.

Still in the blackl 5-gallon plastic nursery pot and looks to me just standard nursery growing soil, very fine not like typical bonsai soil.
I am assuming it is just organic material.

I kinda agree with Brendan, no more abuse. Hopefully he shoots out leaves soon.

I actually left two super tiny leaves, but covered now in super heavy thick pruning heal paste. So it is blocked.

During the following days, whenever I could, I pull it out to get early morning sun, 2 hours say 7-9am. And from 9 til noon , if I put a black plastic bag under direct sun, to build up heat inside - to make budding faster. Have I asked this already? What do you think?

A friend shared this with me : Improving success rate of deciduous yamadori https://yamadori.co.uk/2016/01/04/improving-the-success-rate-of-yamadori/

Boxwood are not decidious. They are evergreen. So the link is useless.
I've been taught to only cut back to green on branches on boxwood or you kill it. That means to leave some leaves.
You treat them like junipers not maples.

Hi again, Your boxwood was bought from a garden center..I assume. A yamadori is a tree found in the wild and dug up. The soils and roots are very different and so is the way you handle them. Also I'm not clear about what is this pruning heal paste that you spread onto buds? I've used pastes for covering wounds on the bark and freshly cut roots but I have never put them on buds. Something new??? Has anyone else on the forum used this product? What is the name and where can it be purchased?

Thanks for your patience immA. We all learn from each other on a forum!

Norma wrote:Hi again,  Your boxwood was bought from a garden center..I assume.  A yamadori is a tree found in the wild and dug up.  The soils and roots are very different and so is the way you handle them.   Also I'm not clear about what is this pruning heal paste  that you spread onto buds?  I've used pastes for covering wounds on the bark and freshly cut roots but I have never put them on buds.   Something new???  Has anyone else on the forum used this product?  What is the name and where can it be purchased?

Thanks for your patience immA.   We all learn from each other on a forum!

Yes we learn from each other here. Thanks for the help guys.

I wondered about the Black Plastic bag technique with Deciduous Yamadori because I am trying to think of every way possible now to save the boxwood. I guess I wondered about that technique because the theory behind it is accumulation of heat to push out buds. But what do I know right.. this is my first time doing bonsai in this climate. I grew up in the tropics and didn't even bonsai there :S

The boxwood is pincushion variety and I wondered even of getting a gallon nursery stock of the pincushion, cut a branch off it and stick it in the trunk of the boxwood I am trying to save. Does this sound too Frankensteinish?

The prune sealer I got is http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/green-earth-pruning-sealer-400-g-0592472p.html?utm_campaign=bazaarvoice&utm_medium=SearchVoice&utm_source=RatingsAndReviews&utm_content=Default
I basically massaged it all over whats left because I pruned the ... out of the boxwood I thought that by doing so, I will seal up moisture loss areas of whatever's left of the trunk. I am now trying to slowly remove the excess paste by misting with lukewarm water twice a day.

I think I might have seen 2 new tiny buds at the lower trunk... not leaflike but small needle shape light green growth.. I am not sure and don't want jinx it too early... will keep u updated

One last time.
BOXWOOD ARE NOT DECIDIOUS TREES!
Using decidious tree techniques like complete defoliaton doesnt work for them.
They are non comiferous evergreen shrubs.
If you did leave 2 leaves attached somewhere but covered them in goo you may as well have cut them off too. They cant get sunlight to do their job covered up.

You are correct M.Frary... The boxwood does not shed it's leaves as does maples and elms, thus it is considered an evergreen. Like needle evergreens the boxwood will lose leaves for various reasons...lack of water or fertilizers and they prefer to grow in shady locations.

imma; thanks for sharing the pruning paste with us.....it would do well with cuts but would not aid the growth of a bud.

Norma

Norma wrote:You are correct M.Frary...   The boxwood does not shed it's leaves as does maples and elms,  thus it is considered an evergreen.   Like needle evergreens the boxwood will lose leaves for various reasons...lack of water or fertilizers and they prefer to grow in shady locations.

imma; thanks for sharing the pruning paste with us.....it would do well with cuts but would not aid the growth of a bud.

Norma

 I know I'm correct.
 I have 3 boxwoods and they are in full sun all day. Thriving. Way better than this poor thing. Mine only lose leaves from frostbite. Boxwoods are used for hedges. Those are in full sun all day too.

M. Frary wrote:

Norma wrote:You are correct M.Frary...   The boxwood does not shed it's leaves as does maples and elms,  thus it is considered an evergreen.   Like needle evergreens the boxwood will lose leaves for various reasons...lack of water or fertilizers and they prefer to grow in shady locations.

imma; thanks for sharing the pruning paste with us.....it would do well with cuts but would not aid the growth of a bud.

Norma

 I know I'm correct.
 I have 3 boxwoods and they are in full sun all day. Thriving. Way better than this poor thing. Mine only lose leaves from frostbite. Boxwoods are used for hedges. Those are in full sun all day too.

I learned... never again.. yes I have been giving this one lots of care now. I have been misting with warm tap water (lukewarm when it comes out as mist) and lightly damping it with paper towel to take the paste off.

And as of today, I saw spikes coming out of the trunk, at least 8 of them. '

So thank you for all the help guys

'.Are some species of boxwoods better for partial shade? This one is a pincushion variety as labelled. Just did a smaller boxwood nursery stock transformation, this time left many leaves! Will post pics soon.

I am liking boxwoods... I can give them 6am til 11am of direct sun in general during the growing season. I guess just better try and see.

If those spikes do bud out this tree will be fine, as the roots were in place and ready. Many will have died, and you need to avoid overwatering it. but i think it should be around next year.