HOW TO TAKE CUTTINGS FROM BOX HEDGING

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW 'GARDEN OF EADEN' WEBSITE AND SEED SHOP

The clipped box hedge - Buxus sempervirens is an iconic addition to grand Royal palaces and traditional country gardens alike. Perfect for maintaining the tight, crisp border of a traditional knot garden, or even expressing the artistic foibles of a topiary expert, the humble box plant has yet to find a horticultural equal.

Of course, if you wanted to create you own box masterpiece be prepared to have deep pockets because they are not the cheapest plant to buy and even the simplest of design could call for hundreds of plants.

The solution? Take your own box hedge cuttings - they are easy to do and easy to take. But the best thing about doing it yourself is that you can produce an awful lot of plant material for almost next to nothing! However, when it come to taking box cutting, it is all about timing.

The rather uninspiring period between autumn and winter is actually one of the best times of the year to take Box cuttings. All you need to do is remove a strong healthy stem, about four inches long, from a healthy parent plant. Trim the base up to just below a couple of buds and then remove the lower two thirds of leaves. If you have a sandy soil in a sheltered site its possible to place the cutting directly into the ground, however a safer be to would be to use a terracotta pot using a standard potting mix.

Push your cuttings into the compost at the side of the pot - spreading them evenly around the edge. Lable them and water with a dilute fungicide. To accelerate rooting, tie a bag around the pot and secure with an elastic band.

Cuttings should have rooted within several weeks. Check by carefully lifting pots and seeing whether roots are visible through the drainage holes at the base of the pot.

Over-winter in a cold frame or cool greenhouse then, come the spring, plant out into individual pots taking care to disturb the juvenile root systems as liittle as possible. Within a year or so you will have plants of an ideal size suitable for creating new box hedging. Not only would you be saving a small fortune from buying Box plants at your local nursery or garden centre, you will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you produced them yourself.

For related articles click onto:
Chitting Potatoes
Gasteria maculata
Hibiscus
How to Compost
How to Grow Roses from Cuttings
How to Grow Rosemary from Cuttings?
How to propagate and Grow Eucomis from Leaf Cuttings
How to Propagate and Grow Mistletoe
How to Propagate Box Hedging
How to Propagate Cowslips and Primroses
How to propagate Daffodils and Narcissus
How to Propagate Dahlias
How to Propagate and Grow Mistletoe
How to Propagate Hellebores
How to Propagate Hyacinths
How to Propagate lavender from Cuttings?
How to Propagate Snowdrops
How to Propagate the Saffron Crocus
How to Propagate Strawberries
How to Propagate Tulips
How to Take Cuttings from Clematis
How to take Cuttings from Fuchsia
How to Take Cuttings from Lavender
How to Take Geranium Cuttings
How to Take Honeysuckle Cuttings
How to take Cuttings from Rosemary
How to take Cuttings from Roses
How to Take Cuttings from Sweet Potatoes
How to Take Hydrangea Cuttings
How to Take Hardwood Cuttings
Monkey Tree
Plants
Strelitzia
The Hardy Begonia - Begonia grandis
The Monkey Puzzle Tree - Araucaria araucana
The Wollemi Pine
Walnut Trees
What is Composting?
What is an F1 Hybrid?
What is Lavender?
What is Lobelia?
What is Seed Dormancy?
Photo care of http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/8264833/The-life-and-legacy-of-Mrs-Verey.html andhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/calendar/tips/category/shrubs