The evergreen boxwood looks most beautiful when it grows densely branched and develops lush green foliage. However, if the shrub is neglected for years, it becomes bare from the inside and no longer appears as beautifully dense and compact. You can prevent this with regular pruning.
Why is the boxwood bare inside?
A boxwood can be bare inside because no light gets inside, which means there is no foliage. Regular pruning and good care prevents baldness. However, bare spots can also indicate diseases or pests such as the box tree borer.
Regular pruning counteracts baldness
Basically, the bare interior is absolutely normal in an otherwise compact and green boxwood; after all, little or no light reaches here - the result is that no leaves are formed. In this case, you don't have to do anything except continue to take good care of the box and cut it back regularly. Without this annual pruning - which can even be done several times a year for topiary trees - the box grows old and over time also becomes bare on the outside. The plant is no longer compact, but visually falls apart. Cutting season is between April and September.
Cutting old boxwood
It is best to cut back a bare, broom-like box well into the woody area, which should be done before budding in spring if possible. Don't be afraid: Buchs tolerates such radical pruning very well, but it doesn't look very attractive for a while afterwards. However, be patient, the plant will certainly sprout again and then shine with new beauty. Depending on the cutting depth, however, this can take two to three years, as new growth from the old wood occurs only slowly.
Bare interior indicating disease or pests
In some cases, however, it is not the lack of pruning care that is the cause of the bare interior, but rather a fungal disease or even the dreaded box tree borer, whose caterpillars prefer to stay inside the plants. In any case, it is advisable to regularly search Buchs for the offspring of the small butterfly and remove them if necessary. The boxwood moths, which hibernate as eggs in a protective web inside the box, hatch at temperatures of around ten degrees Celsius, which is why you should look for them from mid-March if the weather is right.
Tip
Always only work with sharp (€14.00 on Amazon) and well-disinfected tools. In addition, cuttings from diseased or infected boxwood trees should always be disposed of with household waste.
