First wiring on a Boxwood...

Hey all,
Boxwood seem to be hot right now so I thought I would show one that I recently wired. I'm hoping to get some budding in the straight bare section of the upper trunk so I can fill that area in. Let me know what you think. I am thick skinned so be honest.

Todd

Front(ish)


Back


Top removed


Wired and pruned

I'm not sure you can get much to disguise that long straight section in a normal human lifetime. I wonder if a chop (or series of chops over a year or two) might not both serve to shorten that area, and generate some growth on the right.

To my eye, the trunk would look bigger and older if shortened anyway. I REALLY like the lower trunk.

Jim,
I agree with shortening the upper trunk, and that's why I'm hoping for budding on the straight section. I plan to feed it heavily all season with my fingers crossed.

Todd

Is this a collected tree? Nice base with lots of interesting scars. It looks like a B. sempervirens to me instead of the B. microphylla we have common down this way. If it is the European Box, I've always heard they bud back well, so it may be possible to get something to pop in that straight area and shorten that section. If it were mine, I'd turn one of the bottom branches into a whip and threadgraft it to ensure a branch/new top exactly where you want it. Even if you don't chop it back, it would be nice to have some cover in that area.

Joey,
Thanks for the feed back. Your probably right on the species, I wasn't sure what it was but was pretty sure that it wasn't B. microphylla. I also don't know if it was collected originally, but it was a add on (just to sweeten the deal) with a couple of trees that I purchased from an estate last summer. I had thought about grafting a branch there but wasn't sure how well boxwood took to grafting. Any info you could add to the grafting idea would be helpful (timing).

Todd

Hi Todd,
Now is a great time to graft, but you'll need to grow out some whips to use first, so will probably have to start later in the year (unless you have some long-legged cuttings growing of the same species). I'll do a post on threadgrafting Boxwoods a little later.
If you still can, you may want to get info about the history of this tree from the owner. Sometimes its past can be rich and colorful, and is easily lost when exchanging hands.
Joey

Todd,

Can you post a pic taken the same angle as your first posted pic (or between it and the current front)? I think I like the movement of the top branch there better (not straight). Maybe you can carve/trim the deadwood a bit on the top of the trunk (create an uro)? Thanks.

Hi Todd,

Nice looking lil' tree there.

With regards to back-budding, I found with mine that the usual cutting back to the last pair of leaves per branch works a treat, but that would mean losing all your upper foliage bar 8 or 10 leaves which is not the easiest to deal with mentally, sometimes

Anyway, just my two cents...

Brent

I'm with the others to chop off that straight upper trunk and just grow a new leader. It'll be a much more powerful and impressive tree imo.

Hey all,
Thanks for the feedback. Well I'm thinking I may try grafting, there are a couple branches just long enough to use but I will probably wait until later in the season. I think cutting the straight section to a new leader about halfway down would create reasonable taper in time. The previous owner passed away unexpectedly and thus the estate sale, I did not know them.

Dario
Here's a pic from that angle, the problem is that the branches are poorly placed from that direction.

If this is mine, I will use this as the front (or even rotate a bit counter clockwise), tilt it to the right about 15 degrees and work the branches after. They are easier to change those than the trunk/major branch. JMHO.

Dario's absolutely right about this being the best angle! The top "pipe" area even has some movement. Of course, what it looks like in person may be another issue. In case you want to read about threadgrafting boxwoods, I've put up a post on it:
https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t9720-boxwood-threadgrafting-branches#102888

Just read the grafting thread thanks. I have been contemplating where to go with this tree a while. I agree that this angle provides a nicer upper section, but in person and below the soil much of the strength of the base is lost. I am still not fully decided on anything yet with this one, so I will continue staring at it and maybe it will tell me what it wants. Thanks again.

Todd