Detailed Guide to Making a Boxwood Bonsai

  Boxwood, also known as small-leaved boxwood, thousand-year dwarf, etc., is an evergreen shrub or small tree of the Buxaceae family and Buxus genus, native to the middle Yangtze River basin and areas to the south in China. It prefers warm, semi-shaded, humid climates, is drought-tolerant, cold-tolerant, and tolerant of pruning, is a shallow-rooted tree species, grows slowly, and has a long lifespan, making it an excellent tree material for making bonsai.

  Boxwood likes light and is also fairly shade-tolerant, suitable for growing in fertile, loose, moist places, and can adapt to acidic soil, neutral soil, or slightly alkaline soil. It has strong sprouting ability and is tolerant of pruning.

  Steps/Methods

  Obtaining material:

  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 mountains and fields; after digging them up, trim the overly long root system and dense branches, first cultivate the stump in the open ground for 1 to 2 years, and then pot and process it.

  Potting:

  ①Choosing a pot: Boxwood is glossy green all year round, so a purple clay ceramic pot is suitable, and the pot color is best purple or light yellow. The pot shape is determined according to the styling form. For the cliff style, a deep cylindrical pot is suitable; for the slanting style or curved-trunk style, an oval or rectangular pot is used.

  ②Soil: For bonsai soil, use matured garden soil or leaf mold mixed with an appropriate amount of rice husk ash as the growing medium; it should be fertile and loose, and loam with good aeration and water permeability is best. When potting an old stump, it is best to keep the original soil.

  ③Planting: Boxwood is relatively cold-tolerant, so it can be done before spring sprouting. When planting, trim the overly long and overly dense root system, and never let the roots curl up in the pot. Newly planted boxwood should be placed in a semi-shaded place.

  Trimming and cutting:

  Small-leaved boxwood generally has relatively long lateral roots and dense leaves. In addition to cutting off excess messy branches and trunks, the stump cutting method for the trunk should shorten the main trunk: select a side branch at an appropriate part of the main trunk, use the branch to replace the trunk, and cut off above the branch axil to reduce the height. If there is no side branch to replace the trunk, it is very difficult to form a crown.