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Fertilizing boxwood is one of the most important measures for the care of an ornamental crop. A shrub devoid of any of the essential substances changes color, loses leaves and whole branches. Healthy boxwood can live for more than 500 years, remaining a bright, original decoration of the garden. But in order to maintain an impeccable decorative effect, he will need regular feeding, starting from the first years of life.
Fertilizers for boxwood
Boxwood is capable of growing in a wide variety of soils and thrives in both foggy England and the hot Mediterranean climate. But culture has some preferences. An evergreen shrub feels best on soils with clay and limestone. If planting is supposed to be in sandy soil, it is advisable to fertilize it with mature compost.
After planting, boxwood can be fed in several ways using fertilizers of various origins. The choice of drugs depends on the gardener's preference, economic feasibility and local conditions.
Mineral fertilizers
Ready-made formulations for evergreens greatly simplify boxwood care. Separate mineral dressings are convenient to use if the need for a shrub in certain elements is established. Fertilizers can be applied throughout the spring and summer. Experienced gardeners recommend completing such procedures in July.
Most often, such ready-made preparations are used for feeding boxwood:
- traditional potash, phosphorus compounds (potassium chloride, superphosphate) and nitrogen fertilizing (ammonium nitrate);
- complex preparation PETER PEAT "NPK 15-15-15" can be used at intervals of 20 days;
- for rooting boxwood (buxus) - Ecostyle Buxus-AZ, applied immediately after planting;
- a growth activator that stimulates the synthesis of chlorophyll - AGRECOL;
- mixtures for immunity and decorativeness of evergreen crops - Actiwin, Super Master.
Organic fertilizers
Preparations of plant or animal origin can be used as a top dressing for boxwood in spring and autumn when loosening or digging. Also, some organic compounds do well with the role of mulch.
Natural formulations have the following application features:
- The infusion of bird droppings or mullein is prepared at the rate of 1 part feeding to 10 parts of water.
- Only well-rotted organic matter harvested a year earlier is used as fertilizer.
- With solutions for feeding, the soil is evenly shed in the near-stem circle, trying not to get on the leaves and shoots. Otherwise, adult plants run the risk of leaf burns, and young ones can dry out completely.
- Indoor or potted street boxwoods are fed no more than once a month.
Organic fertilizing greatly acidifies the soil. This effect is dangerous for evergreens, so the soil should be regularly returned to a neutral state. It is not recommended to use lime compounds to deoxidize the soil under box trees. It is better to regularly introduce natural substances that have the effect of additional feeding:
- fine dolomite flour - a source of magnesium, calcium;
- bone meal (white) - natural nitrogen fertilizer;
- wood ash - good potash feeding.
Substrates deacidify the soil, without harming the beneficial bacteria in the soil and the ecological balance of the site. Fine peat, humus or bark are used as mulching material.
Homemade products
Universal fertilizers can be made independently from wild herbs or weeds harvested from the site. Such dressings are harmless, effective, contain a lot of elements and bacteria useful for boxwood.
Preparation of infusion for feeding boxwood:
- the collected weeds are randomly crushed, placed in a bulky dish;
- the green mass is poured with water at the rate of 10 liters per 1 kg of raw materials;
- cover the container with glass or film;
- insist the mixture for at least 5 days.
Such fertilizers are especially relevant for boxwood in spring and summer, when the plant needs the whole spectrum of nutrients, without the danger of an overdose of nitrogen or other elements. Before feeding, the finished herbal concentrate is diluted with soft water for irrigation in a ratio of 1:10.
Wood ash is especially popular among the available natural dressings. By pollinating the soil around the boxwood, several effects are obtained, including prevention from infections and pests. As a root top dressing, crushed eggshells are used, dropping it in the root zone.
How to fertilize boxwood
There are specialized top dressing for buksus, which can be used for open ground or applied all season under tub plants at intervals of 10 days. But still, boxwood should be fertilized in autumn, spring or at the height of the growing season in different ways. This is especially true for street bushes experiencing frosty winters and summer heat in the open air.
How to feed boxwood in spring
If the soil on the site was well fertilized when planting, young plants may not need feeding for several seasons. But lack of nutrition can stop the already slow growth of the bush, change the color of the leaves. Shrubs that constantly lack the necessary substances tend to change color, turn yellow, turn brown or dry out. Therefore, from the age of 3, they begin to fertilize the boxwood every spring in several stages.
At the first signs of kidney awakening, you can feed the bushes with ammonium nitrate. After 2-3 weeks, the soil is fertilized with a complex composition with the obligatory presence of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.
Before the onset of the hot months, the soil around the box trees should be mulched using peat. This technique will reduce the evaporation of moisture, keep the soil loose, and further enrich the nutrition of the bushes. The substrate is laid in a small layer in the near-stem circle, without touching the stem. Otherwise, the trunk, sprinkled with mulch, tends to rot. Ash, dolomite or bone meal can be pre-sprayed under the peat layer, depending on the needs of the boxwood.
Signs of a lack of elements for changing the color of the leaves:
- lack of magnesium - the appearance of a brown tint;
- lack of nitrogen - yellowness in the lower part of the bush or bronze leaves;
- general soil depletion - paleness of color, discoloration.
In the middle of the season, experienced gardeners recommend feeding only if the condition of the bushes is alarming. It is advisable to fertilize boxwood in the summer with natural biological compounds.
How to feed boxwood in autumn
Autumn care is aimed at the successful wintering of the bushes. Therefore, starting from the middle of summer, nitrogen fertilizing, including organic matter, is completely excluded. It is no longer necessary to stimulate the growth of green mass at this time, otherwise the young growth will not have time to ripen and will freeze in winter.
Top dressing of boxwood by the fall should consist of phosphorus and potassium compounds. Experienced gardeners are advised to refrain from fertilizing after September. The last top dressing in the season for boxwood should be potash (potassium salt or potassium magnesium), which will accelerate the ripening of the shoots, prepare the plant for the cold weather.
Before frosts, water-charging irrigation is required. Ample moisture in the fall helps boxwood branches and leaves to survive frost. A few days after abundant moisture, the soil is mulched.
How to properly feed boxwood
To make fertilization only beneficial and allow you to grow a beautiful ornamental bush, and not harm, several rules should be followed:
- any feeding begins only after the seedlings are completely rooted;
- after each haircut, the boxwood requires an increased recharge (better with complex compositions for evergreens);
- it is advisable to spread mineral fertilizers evenly around the bushes in a dry form - the concentrated solution burns the roots;
- liquid top dressing is applied only after watering, on wet ground.
In summer, foliar irrigation can be carried out by spraying weak fertilizer solutions on the leaves. The procedure is carried out only in the evening or in cloudy weather to avoid chemical and sunburn of the leaves.
Conclusion
Fertilizing boxwood seems like a complicated science only at first glance. After spending one year's cycle of caring for ornamental bushes, even a novice gardener can simply repeat it in subsequent seasons. For a healthy, normally developing bush, spring and autumn feeding are basic and often sufficient procedures. The rest of the time, you need to monitor the condition of the boxwood and respond to its needs in time.
