Kingsville Boxwood Care

[ml_work]

I purchased a Kingsville Boxwood a few years ago at the Alabama Bonsai Society show in Birmingham. One of the club members had it for sale, said it was about 23 years old. It died on me the first year I had it, I thought it was due to too much direct sunlight where I had it. Felt bad I had killed something they had pampered for all those years, wrote it off that it, not to get another one for around here.
This past March at the Bruesels Spring Sale they had some Kingsville boxwood at what I thought was a good price, figured I would try another one. Really too late to repot so I put in the pot with most of the roots untouched. Built a stand that is under the eve / overhang of the house, it gets good sun for half the day, the eve giving shade after noon. It has done great, no leaves have died back and continues to get the long stems shown in the picture, I keep cutting the shoots back, and realized the Miracle-Grow I am using once a week is 24-8-16 which would / could cause heavy growth on the top. I have swapped to Dyna-Gro 7-9-5, hopefully this will slow the long shoots. Wehn reading about the care, some mention keeping them around 50F in the winter. I was not aware they could not handle a winter freeze, that may have been what killed the first one. So I have 2 questions, one can they stay outside in the freeze of winter? And the leaves, as you see they are bright green and much larger than the small hard leaves, does the new growth harden over time, I would like to keep the extra small, hard leaves.

Thanks
Michael

 

[TrevorLarsen]

I have a smaller one than yours and it has been fine for the past two winters in Utah. I just keep it under my deck so it’s out of the wind but still exposed on 3 sides. It gets pretty cold here so I think you will be fine.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

We have a number of Kingsville. They do fine in morning sun afternoon shade here.

Would just let the tree settle in and get really strong. The extensions can be cup pruned in fall or spring. Who knows they may give new options?

Miracle Grow application is fine. Dilute to the ratio desired. For example half strength is 24-8-16. 12-4-8 and one third strength is 8-2-4. All perfectly fine ratios for most stages of bonsai growth, especially the Kingsville tree .

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Mine get about 8 hours of direct morning sun & survive outdoors in winter. I protect it more than this picture of an early snow shows, heel it in, cover with mulch, north side of house, with protection from wind. I believe they're hardy to zone 5. A Hartland boxwood is a different story, those go indoors at 50F as it's tropical. Everyone uses different fertilizers, but I use fish emulsion as my liquid fertilizer, and Plant tone as my solid fert. I've also kept it in the garage if temps are below 20 just to be safe. Keep in mind these trees need to go dormant.

Getting watered in December. I probably shouldn't have the fert baskets in but the fert has long since expired.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Snow styling!

Best
DSD sends

 

[Hack Yeah!]

The new larger bright green leaves are a reversion. You can leave them to thicken branches for a while but you'll need to cut them all off eventually. It should be fine outside all year round, the foliage will bronze some in the winter. Also full sun is probably not what killed your first one, maybe if it was thrown into full sun after being protected?? I leave mine in full sun.

 

[ml_work]

Thanks to all for the input and the info about the Hartland boxwood, I got one of those at the same sale. Did not know they are tropical, they were in the Cold green house at Brussels , not with the tropical, I would have let it freeze.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

I don't think kingsville and Harland are exactly the same, perhaps the care is the same? I was speaking of kingsville specifically. Good luck either way.

 

[rockm]

Thanks to all for the input and the info about the Hartland boxwood, I got one of those at the same sale. Did not know they are tropical, they were in the Cold green house at Brussels , not with the tropical, I would have let it freeze.

Buxus Harlandii (Harland's boxwood) isn't really a tropical. It's hardy to USDA zone 7-9, which could be called "Southern U.S.." for the most part. It's listed as "marginally winter hardy in Zone 7." They can take freezing, but not a deep freeze. They're more delicate as bonsai. I don't recommend them. Indoors, they don't do very well.

Kingsville boxwood, on the other hand, is quite winter hardy here in Zone 7 and up into Zone 6 in the ground. I've not had to provide any substantial winter protection for it, just mulched into a garden bed. The photo below is of my Kingsville overwintering, you can't see it as it is buried under the snow next to the Bald cypress . It does fine. Bronzes a bit if colder weather, but bounces back.

 

[literatipenjing]

I have about a dozen 12 to 18 years olds and another dozen of my cuttings that are 2 to 5 years old. My older Kingsvilles originated from Bruno, who used to reside in Victoria, BC. Kingsville propagates well from cuttings.
I keep them outside in shallow training pots all year long. They spend winters in the Costco shallow and top - open cardboard boxes on the ground. Their leaves will get brownish, but quickly recover to beautiful green in the spring. In the summer they seem to like morning sun. I fertilize them with my own about 6-4-4 organic mix. They are by far my favorite trees!