An easy to grow shrub that always stays green, boxwood can also be planted in pots to decorate a terrace or balcony. The icing on the cake is that it can withstand most exposures and can even be sculpted into a topiary!
A precious shrub on a terrace
Boxwood (Buxus) is a hardy evergreen shrub belonging to the Buxaceae family. Native to the Mediterranean basin, it gives off a characteristically pleasant scent. Its small leaves form a compact clump that can be pruned into a ball, spiral or cone shape. It is therefore an ideal subject for a contemporary terrace as well as for a classic style balcony.
Planting tips
One important thing about boxwood: it hates having its feet in water! Choose a terra cotta pot with a hole in the bottom. Unglazed terra cotta allows for gas exchange and retains much less moisture than plastic pots.
Place a drainage bed equal to 20% of the volume of the pot at the bottom of the container. It will be made of gravel, clay balls or small pebbles.
Place a geotextile film on the drainage bed, followed by a layer of potting soil with ground horn powder.
Soak the root ball of your box tree for two hours in a basin of water before planting in order to rehydrate it and facilitate its recovery.
Place the roots on the substrate and fill in the vacant space with the same mixture up to the plant's collar. Pack and water.
Growing boxwood in a pot
For pot culture, choose a dwarf species such as Buxus microphylla, of which there are many varieties and cultivars. Boxwoods are equally at home in semi-shade or full sun. Be careful, because in the hottest regions, it will prefer half-shade in summer. During this period, it will be necessary to water it often because the culture in pot has this particularity to ask for waterings more sustained especially in period of strong heats and of big wind. Never leave water in the cups and wait until the root ball is dry on the surface before watering copiously again. In winter, natural rainfall should be more than enough, except in case of exceptional drought.
Boxwood is an easy shrub: it tolerates frost, pollution and even lack of water if it is not constant. Slow growing, repotting will only be done every 5 years. A surfacing every year will however be welcome. As for the famous pruning, it is done twice a year, generally in May and September, to keep the shrub in good shape.
