Kingsville Boxwood Help!

[BonsaiBrett98]

I have had my Kingsville Boxwood (6-7 yrs) for a few months and I am at a loss because I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong to make the leaves keep turning brown and falling off.

At first I had it inside in partial shade for most of the day with it being outside in direct sunlight for 4-6 hours in the morning. I was watering it once or twice a week at most (pouring water directly over the soil because I kept seeing advice not to overwater it. After a few weeks I noticed a lot of the leaves were dying so I changed my routine.

For the past couple of months I have had it on my covered back porch getting minimal direct sunlight, but partial shade all day. It stays out there 24/7 barring a bad storm. I have been watering it every other day by submerging the pot in water for about 20min and I can feel that the top soil is wet. This picture is current and while the leaves are dying slower than before, they are still dying. Please, any advice will be greatly appreciated and I will answer any further questions anyone might have.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Interesting.

Wondering why the tree has been kept inside?

Kingsville boxwood can handle morning sun and afternoon dappled sunlight at least.

Likely the bringing the tree in and out caused the damage as a tree kept inside must be ‘hardened off’ to bring it outside. Shuttling the tree back and forth never let the tree harden off.

Best to transition the tree outside. Also submerging in water for 20 minutes a day is not a good way to water. Best to water it twice a day, morning and late afternoon Then the gas and water exchange will be the best.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[rockm]

I have had my Kingsville Boxwood (6-7 yrs) for a few months and I am at a loss because I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong to make the leaves keep turning brown and falling off.

At first I had it inside in partial shade for most of the day with it being outside in direct sunlight for 4-6 hours in the morning. I was watering it once or twice a week at most (pouring water directly over the soil because I kept seeing advice not to overwater it. After a few weeks I noticed a lot of the leaves were dying so I changed my routine.

For the past couple of months I have had it on my covered back porch getting minimal direct sunlight, but partial shade all day. It stays out there 24/7 barring a bad storm. I have been watering it every other day by submerging the pot in water for about 20min and I can feel that the top soil is wet. This picture is current and while the leaves are dying slower than before, they are still dying. Please, any advice will be greatly appreciated and I will answer any further questions anyone might have.

Your tree is in a very small pot. That means it requires very close attention to watering. It will dry out quicker. Kingsville can take a lot of sun. I've had several in very shallow containers for years. They should never be kept inside. Rain is fine.

You have to figure out how to water the pot and when to water. I'd quit watering with submersion. Makes things too saturated. Boxwood like to get a bit on the dry side, not bone dry, but dry-ish.

 

[rockm]

One other thing--It looks like you've left field or nursery soil on the roots of the boxwood. That is likely contributing to or outright causing your watering your tree. I bareroot my boxwoods at every repotting, particularly their first repotting out of a container. That left on soil can both clog drainage, or become so hard as to repel water when it's in a bonsai pot surrounded by bonsai soil. Tree roots are extremely cautious about crossing from one soil type into another, so roots with field soil are surrounded by bonsai soil with a completely different composition/texture, the root stop growing, or simply circle around in the increasingly clogged field soil.

Boxwood, including Kingsville, is extremely tough. It can take bare rooting and shallow containers IF old dense soil is cleared off and replaced with bonsai soil that drains.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Remember, your watering needs will change with the weather. If the media is wet or moist hold off watering until it is only slightly moist.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Bonsai_hope]

As you know you have a very valuable tree. I agree with Deep Sea Diver. My Kingsville get full morning sun and afternoon dappled shade. A I live in zone 8b and it gets very hot in summers I water them twice a day using an automatic watering system. (Amazon has some solar powered ones for about 40 bucks). Its native area is Maryland and should only need to be protected from hard frosts. I don’t believe that pot is too small but I would consider an inorganic planting medium.

 

[rockm]

FWIW, Kingsville is a variety of Buxus microphylla, the Japanese boxwood. The Kingsville variety was discovered as a sport of a parent microphylla boxwood at a Maryland nursery. It is not native there. It's hardy USDA Zone 5-9. Doesn't need much winter protection here in Zone 7