Purple Sandalwood Bonsai Photo Gallery: Many Exquisite Styles for Your Reference
Chinese name: Purple Sandalwood
Other names: Green Dragon Wood, Yellow Cypress Wood, Rosewood, Flower Hazel Wood, Feather-leaf Sandalwood
Latin scientific name: Pterocarpus indicus
Family and genus: Fabaceae, Pterocarpus
Purple Sandalwood is a tree of the Fabaceae family and Pterocarpus genus, and is one of the world's precious timbers. Purple Sandalwood bonsai has also long been favored by bonsai enthusiasts. China has introduced 8 species of the Pterocarpus genus, of which 6 species grow relatively well and can flower and fruit normally. The Purple Sandalwood tree prefers warm, humid, deep clayey soil, and is suited to growing in limestone mountainous areas and sunny slopes.
How to make a Boxwood bonsai? Boxwood bonsai photos
How to make a Boxwood bonsai?
Boxwood, also known as Ten Thousand Year Dwarf, has a small plant body, dense branches and leaves, slow growth, a long lifespan, is evergreen all year round, tolerates pruning, is easy to shape, and its tree vigor remains strong over time, making it an important bonsai tree species.
Boxwood branches and trunks are grayish-white and smooth, with leaves as small as broad bean petals, thick and glossy, emerald green in all four seasons, and ornamental all year round. After pruning and tying into cloud-flake forms, they are flat and thin as if shaved; or when accented with landscape stones, they become even more natural and wonderful. When the spring buds first open into leaves, the whole tree is tender green, and the ornamental effect is at its best.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Hua Youwu wrote in his poem "Boxwood": "A boxwood tree so near at hand, its whirling branches layered a thousandfold.
Leaves deep as emerald in the garden, ancient as a coiled dragon. Long has it weathered frost and snow, often moistened by heavy rain and dew. It should not meet misfortune in a leap year, its firm substance rivals the cold pine." This depicts the beautiful form of boxwood.
Tools/Materials
Boxwood, flower pot, flower scissors, organic soil, fertilizer, water, watering can
Steps/Methods
(1) Botanical Knowledge
Belongs to the Buxaceae family, Buxus genus. Evergreen shrub or small tree, with densely growing branches, small branches four-angled, branches and leaves clustered and rising upward. Leaves opposite, leathery, elliptical or obovate, apex rounded or slightly notched, base wedge-shaped, surface bright green, underside yellow-green. Flowers clustered in leaf axils or at branch tips, opening in April, yellow-green. Capsule ovoid.
Main species and varieties 1. Buxus bodinieri Levl.
also known as Spatulate-leaf Boxwood.
Evergreen dwarf shrub, branches densely clustered. Leaves opposite, leathery, spatulate or oblanceolate, surface dark green, glossy.
2. Buxus sinica var. parvifolia M. Cheng, also known as Pearl Boxwood.
Evergreen small shrub, branches and leaves densely growing, internodes short, leaves small, glossy. The tree form is graceful, and it is a precious tree species for making bonsai.
Boxwood is produced in the central provinces of China, growing wild in mountainous areas below 1300 m elevation.
It is widely planted in gardens or grown in pots for ornament in the Yangtze River basin and areas to the south.
It likes light, also tolerates slight shade, is relatively cold-tolerant, and is suited to fertile, moist, loose sites. It can adapt to acidic soil, neutral soil, or slightly alkaline soil. It grows slowly, has strong sprouting ability, and tolerates pruning.
Boxwood at all stages from seedling to old stump is suitable as bonsai material. The main trunk can be cut off 10-30 cm above the ground, and many new branches can sprout around and below the plant; with moderate pruning it can become spherical, tower-shaped, or naturally layered. Boxwood with old stumps can be made into stump-style bonsai.
(2) Material Collection and Cultivation Measures
Seedlings propagated by sowing or cuttings can be transplanted into pots for processing after several years of cultivation. Old stumps can also be selected from the wild; after digging them up, trim the overly long roots and dense branches, first grow them in the open ground for 1-2 years, then pot them for processing.
Artificial propagation: Usually propagated by sowing or cuttings. For sowing, harvest ripe fruit in July, spread them out to dry in the sun, then thresh to obtain seeds and store them in bags. Sow in winter or early spring; if sowing is later than March, few seedlings emerge that year, and most will not germinate and emerge until the second year. Before sowing, first soak the seeds in 40°C warm water for one day and night (allowing it to cool naturally), then dry them and sow. The seedbed soil should be fertile, loose sandy loam, with row spacing of 15-20 cm for drilling, sowing width of 5 cm, sowing furrow depth of 2 cm; after sowing, cover with 1 cm of burnt mud, then cover with rice straw. After the seedlings emerge, remove the straw promptly and set up a shade frame. Strengthen management during the seedling stage: weed and loosen the soil, water frequently, keep the soil moist, and apply diluted cake fertilizer water.
In September, remove the shade frame, leave the plants in the bed for another year, then transplant separately.
Cutting propagation is best done during the plum rain season. Select semi-lignified healthy branches as cuttings, 10-12 cm long, with a heel at the base, keeping 5-6 pairs of leaves at the upper part, inserted 12-23 deep, with plant and row spacing of 6 x 10 cm. After inserting, press the soil firm, water thoroughly, and set up a shade frame; spray water frequently to keep the soil moist, and especially water frequently in hot weather.
In September-October, remove the shade frame, leave the plants in the bed for another year, then transplant separately. Boxwood can also be propagated by thick-trunk cuttings: cut a relatively thick branch from a clustered plant, leave several whorls of branches and leaves on top, bury the trunk part entirely in yellow sandy soil or vermiculite, exposing the branches and leaves, water frequently to keep moist, and roots will form after half a year.
Wild collection: In subtropical mountainous areas, boxwood is mostly scattered under mixed forests or beside ditches at forest edges. On exposed rocky barren land, boxwood grows short, with dense branches and leaves; when collected for potting, after processing and shaping, it often becomes an excellent bonsai. Buxus sinica var. parvifolia in East China, in the upper middle mountain zone at 1300-1800 m elevation, often grows in patches, forming evergreen scrub with Buxus sinica var. parvifolia as the dominant species; it also grows abundantly in mountain rock crevices. Its trunk form is thick and short, with dense branches and small leaves, making it most suitable for making bonsai. However, Buxus sinica var. parvifolia is an alpine tree species, requiring a cool, moist climate and acidic sandy loam. Collected wild stumps or seedlings should be cultivated with plenty of mountain soil and original soil, and sprayed with water frequently; for topdressing, diluted cake fertilizer water mixed with a small amount of ferrous sulfate can be used. In summer, it should be placed in a shaded place or under tree shade; it is even better if the pot is placed on wet sand.
(3) Potting
1. Pot selection: Boxwood is oily green all year round, so purple clay pottery pots or glazed pottery pots are suitable, and pot colors of purple or light yellow are best. The pot shape depends on the styling form of the boxwood bonsai, with medium-deep rectangular or elliptical pots being most common. For cascade style, a deep cylindrical pot is suitable; for slanting-trunk or curved-trunk style, an elliptical or rectangular pot is used. Pot colors of purple or light yellow are best, to highlight the emerald green branches and leaves.
2. Soil: For bonsai soil, use aged garden soil or leaf mold mixed with an appropriate amount of chaff ash as the growing medium; it should be fertile and loose, and loam with good aeration and water permeability is best. Old stumps should be potted with original soil. Boxwood likes fertile, loose loam, can adapt to slightly acidic or slightly alkaline soil, and can also grow in calcareous soil. For potting, use aged garden soil or leaf mold mixed with an appropriate amount of chaff ash.
3. Planting: Boxwood is relatively cold-tolerant, so planting can be done before spring budding. When planting, trim overly long and dense roots, and be sure not to let the roots curl up in the pot. Newly planted boxwood should be placed in a semi-shaded place.
(4) Shaping Techniques and Styling TechniquesBoxwood has strong sprouting ability. Before styling, the main trunk can be headed back to let new shoots sprout around or below the cut surface, then according to the requirements of artistic styling, train and tie the branches and trunk; tying with palm fiber in spring is best. Coarse tying with fine pruning can also be used to create cloud-flake or steamed-bun shapes, or to process into a natural tree form. The main trunk follows its natural tendency and can be made into slanting-trunk or prostrate style. If a boxwood stump landscape is accented with elegant stones, it becomes "Boxwood Overlook." Boxwood is very tolerant of pruning and has strong sprouting ability; to maintain a graceful tree shape, it must be processed and reshaped regularly.
Processing: Collected wild old boxwood stumps generally begin processing after 1-2 years of cultivation, while seedlings cultivated from a young age must wait 3-4 years before processing can begin.
Styling is mainly by tying, and coarse tying with fine pruning can also be used. Boxwood branches and trunks are hard in texture and thin in bark, so metal wire should not be used for tying; palm fiber is best. Tying is mostly done in spring, while pruning can be done at any time.
Tree forms: Boxwood is suitable for slanting-trunk, curved-trunk, and cascade styles, etc. In the traditional forms of "Yang-style" bonsai, boxwood branches and leaves are all made into "cloud flakes" using the "fine tying and fine pruning method," while in "Su-style" bonsai, the "coarse tying and fine pruning method" is used to create "steamed-bun" shapes, each with its own characteristics. Boxwood has strong sprouting ability and is very tolerant of pruning, and can also be processed by pruning into a natural large tree form. If a boxwood bonsai is paired with elegant stones, it becomes "Boxwood Peak," making the old-looking, small boxwood grow beside the stone, its posture even more natural and wonderful.
(5) Maintenance and Management
Placement location: Boxwood should be placed in a semi-shaded place, and in summer special attention must be paid to shading. In winter, except in severely cold regions, it can generally overwinter outdoors; simply bury the pot in a wind-sheltered, sunny place, but after frost the leaf color often turns red.
Watering: Boxwood likes moisture, and the pot soil should be slightly on the moist side, but waterlogging is not suitable.
In summer high temperatures, in addition to shading, watering morning and evening is also needed.
Fertilizing: Boxwood grows slowly and is not demanding about fertilizer. Generally, apply in spring
fertilizer 1-2 times, and once in autumn with decomposed cake fertilizer water is sufficient.
Pruning: Boxwood sprouts relatively quickly, so it should be pruned regularly. Generally, after each new shoot emerges, cut off the top 1-2 nodes to prevent leggy growth and maintain the beauty of the tree shape.
After boxwood fruits, they should be removed promptly to avoid consuming nutrients and affecting growth vigor.
Repotting: Carry out once every 2-3 years, preferably before spring budding or after new shoots have matured in autumn.
When repotting, remove some old roots and remove 12 old soil, and change to a pot one size larger to benefit root development.
Pest and disease control: Boxwood has relatively few pests and diseases, mainly scale insects, which can cause sooty mold and leaf drop. Be sure to brush them off clean by hand, or spray with 80% dichlorvos at 1500 times dilution to kill them.
Usually it is best to spray water on the leaf surface frequently to wash off dust and promote good growth.
(6) Ornamental Appreciation
Boxwood branches and trunks are grayish-white and smooth, with leaves as small as broad bean petals, thick and glossy, emerald green in all four seasons, and ornamental all year round. After pruning and tying into cloud-flake forms, they are flat and thin as if shaved; or when accented with landscape stones, they become even more natural and wonderful. When the spring buds first open into leaves, the whole tree is tender green, and the ornamental effect is at its best.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Hua Youwu wrote in his poem "Boxwood": "A boxwood tree so near at hand, its whirling branches layered a thousandfold.
Leaves deep as emerald in the garden, ancient as a coiled dragon. Long has it weathered frost and snow, often moistened by heavy rain and dew. It should not meet misfortune in a leap year, its firm substance rivals the cold pine." This depicts the beautiful form of boxwood.
Precautions
Pest and disease control: Boxwood has relatively few pests and diseases, mainly scale insects, which can cause sooty mold and leaf drop. Be sure to brush them off clean by hand, or spray with 80% dichlorvos at 1500 times dilution to kill them.
Usually it is best to spray water on the leaf surface frequently to wash off dust and promote good growth.
Maintenance and Management
(1) Watering: Boxwood likes moisture, and bonsai need frequent watering to keep the pot soil moist, but waterlogging must also be avoided. During summer high temperatures, water morning and evening, and spray water on the leaf surface.
(2) Fertilizing: During the growing period from May to August, apply 2-3 times of decomposed diluted cake fertilizer water; in winter apply 1 basal fertilization, using decomposed manure or dried cake fertilizer crumbs.
(3) Pruning: During the growing period, cut off leggy branches, overlapping branches, and excess branches affecting the tree shape at any time. Boxwood sprouts relatively quickly; generally after new shoots emerge, cut off the top 1-2 nodes to prevent leggy growth. After boxwood fruits, remove them promptly to avoid consuming nutrients and affecting tree vigor growth.
(4) Repotting: Generally carry out once every 2-3 years, preferably before spring budding. In conjunction with repotting, cut off some old roots and overly long and dense roots, replace 1/2 of the old soil, and fill with fertile, loose growing medium to benefit root development.
(5) Pest and disease control: The main pests of boxwood are scale insects and boxwood looper. Scale insects can be killed by brushing by hand, or sprayed with 80% dichlorvos at 1500 times dilution; boxwood looper can be sprayed with 80% trichlorfon wettable powder, or with 40% omethoate at 1000-2000 times dilution. The main disease is sooty mold, which causes leaf drop. The key to control is to remove scale insects and frequently spray water on the leaf surface to wash off dust and promote good growth.
Ornamental Appreciation
Boxwood bonsai has a graceful tree posture, with leaves as small as broad bean petals, thick and glossy, evergreen in all four seasons, and ornamental all year round. Yang-style boxwood carving appreciation, boxwood bonsai, branches and leaves processed by pruning and tying into "cloud-flake shape," flat and thin as if shaved, then accented with landscape stones, elegantly beautiful like a painting. In spring, when boxwood tender leaves first emerge, the whole tree is tender green, very pleasing to the eye. The ancients recited poems about boxwood: a boxwood tree so near at hand, its whirling branches layered a thousandfold, leaves deep as emerald in the garden, ancient as a coiled dragon. This depicts the graceful bearing of boxwood, and it is an excellent material for home bonsai cultivation.
Boxwood occupies a very subtle and special place in classical furniture. The boxwood works we see are mostly craft ornaments, and there are basically no finished furniture pieces; in the use of classical furniture it is mostly used as an accent. I remember once at Yuanhengli Classical Hardwood Furniture Co., Ltd., a gentleman, upon seeing a purple sandalwood Nine Dragons Stirring the Sea screen inlaid with boxwood, praised the jade-like texture of the boxwood without end, repeatedly saying it would be wonderful if it were made into a large piece of furniture. In fact, many people have this question: why do we never see large boxwood furniture? So what kind of wood is boxwood?
In fact, in China boxwood has a relatively wide growth range, and is widely distributed along the southeast coast, the southwest, and Taiwan, China. Its branches and leaves are luxuriant, it does not flower or fruit, and it is evergreen all year round. In both tropical and temperate zones it is a relatively common evergreen plant. Boxwood carving, as a three-dimensional carved craft, has also appeared independently for people to appreciate on their desks for quite a long time. At present, the earliest extant physical example that can be verified is a relic from the Yuan Dynasty, such as the existing boxwood round-carved figure "Li Tieguai" in the Palace Museum in Beijing, which is a work from the second year of the Zhizheng reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1342), already more than six hundred years ago.
Boxwood is also a very interesting topic. Li Yu called it having the manner of a gentleman and likened it to "the gentleman among woods." In his Xianqing Ouji he even recorded: "Boxwood grows one cun each year, not exceeding a hair's breadth, and in a leap year it instead shrinks one cun; this is its heaven-ordained fate." In fact, this saying is also mentioned in some other books. For example, Su Shi wrote in a poem: "Among the garden's plants and trees there are countless springs, only boxwood suffers in a leap year." In Bowu Yaolun it is even mentioned that someone once did a test, saying that in a leap year boxwood does not shrink, it simply does not grow. In Youyang Zazu there is also the following record about harvesting boxwood: "The world values boxwood because it has no fire. Test it with water: if it sinks, it has no fire. Whenever taking this wood, one must seek a dark night with not a single star; if cut then, it will not split." These sayings more or less draped boxwood in a mysterious cloak, and added much charm to boxwood works becoming beloved objects for people to fondle.
Because of slow growth, boxwood's wood is extremely fine, and the pores (stomata) cannot be seen with the naked eye. However, also because boxwood grows slowly, it is difficult to obtain large material, and it is mostly used in inlay with high-grade rosewood or processed into extremely fine carving works; no large works have been seen. Precisely because of this, boxwood carving works are often mistaken by beginners for ivory. It can be said that making large furniture from boxwood is extremely difficult, and if such a piece appears, it is certainly a treasure.
Boxwood's fragrance is very light, very faint, elegant but not gaudy, the kind of scent that can fully be described as delicate fragrance, and it can also repel mosquitoes. In addition, boxwood also has the effects of sterilizing, reducing inflammation, and stopping bleeding. Among the mountain people in the areas where boxwood grows, there is a custom of collecting boxwood leaves for use as a hemostatic medicine and placing boxwood branches to repel mosquitoes and flies.
Appreciating boxwood art works should be done with the utmost care, fondling them carefully; one will always gain something.
Boxwood bonsai photos
How to make a Boxwood bonsai? Introduction to Boxwood bonsai
How to make a Boxwood bonsai?
Boxwood, also known as Ten Thousand Year Dwarf, has a small plant body, dense branches and leaves, slow growth, a long lifespan, is evergreen all year round, tolerates pruning, is easy to shape, and its tree vigor remains strong over time, making it an important bonsai tree species.
Boxwood branches and trunks are grayish-white and smooth, with leaves as small as broad bean petals, thick and glossy, emerald green in all four seasons, and ornamental all year round. After pruning and tying into cloud-flake forms, they are flat and thin as if shaved; or when accented with landscape stones, they become even more natural and wonderful. When the spring buds first open into leaves, the whole tree is tender green, and the ornamental effect is at its best.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Hua Youwu wrote in his poem "Boxwood": "A boxwood tree so near at hand, its whirling branches layered a thousandfold.
Leaves deep as emerald in the garden, ancient as a coiled dragon. Long has it weathered frost and snow, often moistened by heavy rain and dew. It should not meet misfortune in a leap year, its firm substance rivals the cold pine." This depicts the beautiful form of boxwood.
Tools/Materials
Boxwood, flower pot, flower scissors, organic soil, fertilizer, water, watering can
Steps/Methods
(1) Botanical Knowledge
Belongs to the Buxaceae family, Buxus genus. Evergreen shrub or small tree, with densely growing branches, small branches four-angled, branches and leaves clustered and rising upward. Leaves opposite, leathery, elliptical or obovate, apex rounded or slightly notched, base wedge-shaped, surface bright green, underside yellow-green. Flowers clustered in leaf axils or at branch tips, opening in April, yellow-green. Capsule ovoid.
Main species and varieties 1. Buxus bodinieri Levl.
also known as Spatulate-leaf Boxwood.
Evergreen dwarf shrub, branches densely clustered. Leaves opposite, leathery, spatulate or oblanceolate, surface dark green, glossy.
2. Buxus sinica var. parvifolia M. Cheng, also known as Pearl Boxwood.
Evergreen small shrub, branches and leaves densely growing, internodes short, leaves small, glossy. The tree form is graceful, and it is a precious tree species for making bonsai.
Boxwood is produced in the central provinces of China, growing wild in mountainous areas below 1300 m elevation.
It is widely planted in gardens or grown in pots for ornament in the Yangtze River basin and areas to the south.
It likes light, also tolerates slight shade, is relatively cold-tolerant, and is suited to fertile, moist, loose sites. It can adapt to acidic soil, neutral soil, or slightly alkaline soil. It grows slowly, has strong sprouting ability, and tolerates pruning.
Boxwood at all stages from seedling to old stump is suitable as bonsai material. The main trunk can be cut off 10-30 cm above the ground, and many new branches can sprout around and below the plant; with moderate pruning it can become spherical, tower-shaped, or naturally layered. Boxwood with old stumps can be made into stump-style bonsai.
(2) Material Collection and Cultivation Measures
Seedlings propagated by sowing or cuttings can be transplanted into pots for processing after several years of cultivation. Old stumps can also be selected from the wild; after digging them up, trim the overly long roots and dense branches, first grow them in the open ground for 1-2 years, then pot them for processing.
Artificial propagation: Usually propagated by sowing or cuttings. For sowing, harvest ripe fruit in July, spread them out to dry in the sun, then thresh to obtain seeds and store them in bags. Sow in winter or early spring; if sowing is later than March, few seedlings emerge that year, and most will not germinate and emerge until the second year. Before sowing, first soak the seeds in 40°C warm water for one day and night (allowing it to cool naturally), then dry them and sow. The seedbed soil should be fertile, loose sandy loam, with row spacing of 15-20 cm for drilling, sowing width of 5 cm, sowing furrow depth of 2 cm; after sowing, cover with 1 cm of burnt mud, then cover with rice straw. After the seedlings emerge, remove the straw promptly and set up a shade frame. Strengthen management during the seedling stage: weed and loosen the soil, water frequently, keep the soil moist, and apply diluted cake fertilizer water.
In September, remove the shade frame, leave the plants in the bed for another year, then transplant separately.
Cutting propagation is best done during the plum rain season. Select semi-lignified healthy branches as cuttings, 10-12 cm long, with a heel at the base, keeping 5-6 pairs of leaves at the upper part, inserted 12-23 deep, with plant and row spacing of 6 x 10 cm. After inserting, press the soil firm, water thoroughly, and set up a shade frame; spray water frequently to keep the soil moist, and especially water frequently in hot weather.
In September-October, remove the shade frame, leave the plants in the bed for another year, then transplant separately. Boxwood can also be propagated by thick-trunk cuttings: cut a relatively thick branch from a clustered plant, leave several whorls of branches and leaves on top, bury the trunk part entirely in yellow sandy soil or vermiculite, exposing the branches and leaves, water frequently to keep moist, and roots will form after half a year.
Wild collection: In subtropical mountainous areas, boxwood is mostly scattered under mixed forests or beside ditches at forest edges. On exposed rocky barren land, boxwood grows short, with dense branches and leaves; when collected for potting, after processing and shaping, it often becomes an excellent bonsai. Buxus sinica var. parvifolia in East China, in the upper middle mountain zone at 1300-1800 m elevation, often grows in patches, forming evergreen scrub with Buxus sinica var. parvifolia as the dominant species; it also grows abundantly in mountain rock crevices. Its trunk form is thick and short, with dense branches and small leaves, making it most suitable for making bonsai. However, Buxus sinica var. parvifolia is an alpine tree species, requiring a cool, moist climate and acidic sandy loam. Collected wild stumps or seedlings should be cultivated with plenty of mountain soil and original soil, and sprayed with water frequently; for topdressing, diluted cake fertilizer water mixed with a small amount of ferrous sulfate can be used. In summer, it should be placed in a shaded place or under tree shade; it is even better if the pot is placed on wet sand.
(3) Potting
1. Pot selection: Boxwood is oily green all year round, so purple clay pottery pots or glazed pottery pots are suitable, and pot colors of purple or light yellow are best. The pot shape depends on the styling form of the boxwood bonsai, with medium-deep rectangular or elliptical pots being most common. For cascade style, a deep cylindrical pot is suitable; for slanting-trunk or curved-trunk style, an elliptical or rectangular pot is used. Pot colors of purple or light yellow are best, to highlight the emerald green branches and leaves.
2. Soil: For bonsai soil, use aged garden soil or leaf mold mixed with an appropriate amount of chaff ash as the growing medium; it should be fertile and loose, and loam with good aeration and water permeability is best. Old stumps should be potted with original soil. Boxwood likes fertile, loose loam, can adapt to slightly acidic or slightly alkaline soil, and can also grow in calcareous soil. For potting, use aged garden soil or leaf mold mixed with an appropriate amount of chaff ash.
3. Planting: Boxwood is relatively cold-tolerant, so planting can be done before spring budding. When planting, trim overly long and dense roots, and be sure not to let the roots curl up in the pot. Newly planted boxwood should be placed in a semi-shaded place.
(4) Shaping Techniques and Styling Techniques
Boxwood has strong sprouting ability. Before styling, the main trunk can be headed back to let new shoots sprout around or below the cut surface, then according to the requirements of artistic styling, train and tie the branches and trunk; tying with palm fiber in spring is best. Coarse tying with fine pruning can also be used to create cloud-flake or steamed-bun shapes, or to process into a natural tree form. The main trunk follows its natural tendency and can be made into slanting-trunk or prostrate style. If a boxwood stump landscape is accented with elegant stones, it becomes "Boxwood Overlook." Boxwood is very tolerant of pruning and has strong sprouting ability; to maintain a graceful tree shape, it must be processed and reshaped regularly.
Processing: Collected wild old boxwood stumps generally begin processing after 1-2 years of cultivation, while seedlings cultivated from a young age must wait 3-4 years before processing can begin.
Styling is mainly by tying, and coarse tying with fine pruning can also be used. Boxwood branches and trunks are hard in texture and thin in bark, so metal wire should not be used for tying; palm fiber is best. Tying is mostly done in spring, while pruning can be done at any time.
Tree forms: Boxwood is suitable for slanting-trunk, curved-trunk, and cascade styles, etc. In the traditional forms of "Yang-style" bonsai, boxwood branches and leaves are all made into "cloud flakes" using the "fine tying and fine pruning method," while in "Su-style" bonsai, the "coarse tying and fine pruning method" is used to create "steamed-bun" shapes, each with its own characteristics. Boxwood has strong sprouting ability and is very tolerant of pruning, and can also be processed by pruning into a natural large tree form. If a boxwood bonsai is paired with elegant stones, it becomes "Boxwood Peak," making the old-looking, small boxwood grow beside the stone, its posture even more natural and wonderful.
(5) Maintenance and Management
Placement location: Boxwood should be placed in a semi-shaded place, and in summer special attention must be paid to shading. In winter, except in severely cold regions, it can generally overwinter outdoors; simply bury the pot in a wind-sheltered, sunny place, but after frost the leaf color often turns red.
Watering: Boxwood likes moisture, and the pot soil should be slightly on the moist side, but waterlogging is not suitable.
In summer high temperatures, in addition to shading, watering morning and evening is also needed.
Fertilizing: Boxwood grows slowly and is not demanding about fertilizer. Generally, apply in spring
fertilizer 1-2 times, and once in autumn with decomposed cake fertilizer water is sufficient.
Pruning: Boxwood sprouts relatively quickly, so it should be pruned regularly. Generally, after each new shoot emerges, cut off the top 1-2 nodes to prevent leggy growth and maintain the beauty of the tree shape.
After the boxwood produces fruit, it is best to remove it promptly to avoid consuming nutrients and affecting growth.
Repotting: Carry it out once every 2 to 3 years, preferably before bud break in spring or after the new shoots of autumn have matured.
When repotting, remove some of the old roots and get rid of 12 of the old soil, then move it into a pot one size larger to encourage root development.
Pest and disease control: Boxwood has few pests and diseases, mainly scale insects, which can cause sooty mold and leaf drop. Be sure to brush them off clean by hand, or spray to kill them with a 1500-fold dilution of 80% dichlorvos.
Usually it is best to mist the leaves often to wash off dust so the plant grows well.
(6) Ornamental value
The branches and trunk of boxwood are grayish white and smooth, the leaves are as small as broad bean petals, thick and glossy, and remain emerald green through all four seasons, so it can be enjoyed year-round. After pruning and training into cloud-layer forms, it lies flat and thin as if carved; or when used to accent rock arrangements, it becomes even more natural and exquisite. When the spring buds first open into leaves, the whole tree is tender green, and the ornamental effect is at its best.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Hua Youwu wrote in his poem "Boxwood": "Within a foot, the boxwood tree, with branches dancing in a thousand layers.
Its leaves are deep as jade in a garden, ancient and coiled like a dragon. Long has it weathered frost and snow, and often been soaked in heavy rain and dew. It should not meet misfortune in a leap year, for its firm substance compares to the cold pine." This describes the beautiful form of boxwood.
Precautions
Pest and disease control: Boxwood has few pests and diseases, mainly scale insects, which can cause sooty mold and leaf drop. Be sure to brush them off clean by hand, or spray to kill them with a 1500-fold dilution of 80% dichlorvos.
Usually it is best to mist the leaves often to wash off dust so the plant grows well
Care and management
(1) Watering: Boxwood likes moisture, and bonsai need frequent watering to keep the potting soil moist, but it must not become waterlogged. During the high-temperature period in summer, water in the morning and evening, and spray water on the leaves.
(2) Fertilizing: During the growing period from May to August, apply 2 to 3 rounds of fully decomposed dilute cake fertilizer water; in winter apply 1 basal fertilization, using either rotted manure or dried cake fertilizer crumbs.
(3) Pruning: During the growing period, cut off vigorous water shoots, overlapping branches, and any excess branches that affect the tree's shape at any time. Boxwood sprouts relatively quickly, so generally after new shoots appear, cut off the first 1 to 2 nodes at the tip to prevent leggy growth. After boxwood produces fruit, remove it promptly to avoid consuming nutrients and affecting the tree's growth vigor.
(4) Repotting: Generally carry it out once every 2 to 3 years, preferably before bud break in spring. Along with repotting, cut off some old roots and overly long or dense roots, replace 1/2 of the old soil, and fill in fertile, loose cultivation soil to encourage root development.
(5) Pest and disease control: The main insect pests of boxwood are scale insects and boxwood looper larvae. Scale insects can be killed by brushing them off by hand, or sprayed to kill with a 1500-fold dilution of 80% dichlorvos; boxwood looper larvae can be sprayed to kill with 80% trichlorfon wettable powder, or with a 1000 to 2000-fold dilution of 40% omethoate. The main disease is sooty mold, which causes leaf drop; the key to control is to eliminate the scale insects and often spray water on the leaves to wash off dust so the plant grows well.
Ornamental value
Boxwood bonsai have a graceful tree form, with leaves as small as broad bean petals, thick and glossy, evergreen through all four seasons, and enjoyable year-round. Yang-style boxwood carving appreciation of boxwood bonsai: the branches and leaves are pruned and trained into a "cloud-layer form," flat and thin as if carved, and further accented with rocks, elegant and beautiful as a painting. In spring, when the tender leaves of boxwood first emerge, the whole tree is tender green and very pleasing to the eye. The ancients' poem on boxwood says: within a foot, the boxwood tree, with branches dancing in a thousand layers, its leaves are deep as jade in a garden, ancient and coiled like a dragon. This describes the graceful bearing of boxwood, and it is an excellent material for growing bonsai at home.
Boxwood occupies a very subtle and also very special place in classical furniture. The boxwood works we see are mostly craft ornaments, and there are basically no finished pieces of furniture; in the use of classical furniture it is mostly employed as an accent. I remember once at Yuanhengli Classical Hardwood Furniture Co., Ltd., a gentleman, upon seeing a red sandalwood nine-dragon sea screen inlaid with boxwood, praised the jade-like texture of the boxwood without end, saying repeatedly that it would be wonderful if it were made into a large piece of furniture. In fact, many people have this question: why do we never see large pieces of boxwood furniture? So what kind of wood is boxwood?
In fact, in our country boxwood has a relatively wide growing range, widely distributed along the southeastern coast, in the southwest, and in Taiwan, China; its branches and leaves are luxuriant, it does not flower or fruit, and it is evergreen through all four seasons. In both tropical and temperate zones it is a relatively common evergreen plant. Boxwood carving, appearing independently as a three-dimensional carved craft for people to enjoy on their desks, also has no short history; the earliest surviving example that can be verified is a relic from the Yuan Dynasty, such as the boxwood round-carved figure "Li Tieguai" now in the Palace Museum in Beijing, a work from the second year of the Zhizheng reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1342), already more than six hundred years old.
Boxwood is also a rather interesting topic. Li Yu called it having the demeanor of a gentleman, likening it to "the gentleman among woods." In his Xianqing Ouji he even recorded: "Boxwood grows one cun each year, never exceeding that by a hair, and in a leap year it instead shrinks one cun; this is its heaven-decreed fate." In fact, this saying is mentioned in some other books as well; for example, Su Shi wrote in a poem: "In the garden, grasses and trees know countless springs, yet only the boxwood meets misfortune in a leap year." In Bówù Yàolùn it is even said that someone once did a test and claimed that in a leap year boxwood does not shrink, it simply does not grow. In Youyang Zazu there is also the following record on harvesting boxwood: "The world values boxwood because it has no fire. Test it with water: if it sinks, it has no fire. Whenever taking this wood, one must seek a dark night with not a single star, and if it is felled then, it will not split." These sayings more or less draped boxwood in a mysterious cloak, and added much charm to boxwood works becoming beloved objects for people to fondle and enjoy.
Because it grows slowly, boxwood's wood is extremely fine, and the pores cannot be seen with the naked eye; yet still, because boxwood grows slowly and rarely yields large material, it is mostly used inlaid in combination with high-grade rosewood or worked into extremely fine carved pieces. No large works have been seen, and precisely for this reason boxwood carvings are often mistaken by those seeing them for the first time as made of ivory. It can be said that making boxwood into large furniture is extremely difficult, and if such a piece appears, it is certainly a treasure.
Boxwood's fragrance is very light, very faint, elegant without being gaudy; it is the kind of scent that can simply be described as delicate and fresh, and it can also repel mosquitoes. In addition, boxwood also has the effects of sterilization and anti-inflammatory hemostasis. Among the mountain people in the places where boxwood grows, there is the custom of gathering boxwood leaves for use as a hemostatic medicine and placing boxwood branches to drive away mosquitoes and flies.
Appreciating boxwood art works calls for the greatest care; fondle them slowly and you will always gain something.