Easy to care for, easy to cut and suitable for all sorts of imaginative figures and shapes: boxwood is a true all-rounder in the garden. Even if pruning doesn't harm this popular tree, it still depends on the right time: if you prune in constant rain or during a dry, good weather period, this can have unpleasant consequences for your book.
Is cutting boxwood recommended when it rains?
Pruning boxwood when it rains is risky as it encourages fungal attack, especially the dreaded Cylindrocladium buxicola. It is better to cut the boxwood on dry, overcast days or in the evening to avoid damage.
Pruning when it rains promotes fungal infestation
Cutting in the rain is particularly dangerous, as the dreaded cause of boxwood shoot death, the fungus Cylindrocladium buxicola, is transmitted as a result of damp or wet weather. Open interfaces and wounds make it easier for the pathogen to penetrate a previously he althy plant - and infect it within a very short time. But it's not just Cylindrocladium buxicola that uses rainy weather for infection; other fungal pathogens also appear preferentially. Finally, moisture causes mushrooms to sprout. What is true for delicious wild mushrooms is also true for mold and other annoying fungicidal pathogens.
Cutting in the sun causes sunburn
But even in dry, sunny and hot weather, you should leave the secateurs in the shed. During such phases, the boxwood, which has little tolerance to drought and heat, is already stressed, and pruning also threatens sunburn. Since you expose shaded plant parts and leaves when cutting, they burn in the suddenly unusual sunlight: the box turns brown in places and leaves, and some shoots also dry out.
When is the best time to prune the boxwood?
However, it is better to cut the boxwood on a dry and overcast day. If this is not possible, for example because the good weather has lasted for a long time and pruning is unavoidable due to pest infestation, you can postpone the measure until the evening hours. At this point, the sunlight is no longer as intense, so the shrub can cope better with the cut. Do something good for your book by pampering it with fresh fertilizer after cutting: mature compost, horn shavings and rock dust are perfect for this purpose.
Tip
Especially during a hot and dry period of good weather, you should carefully examine your box plantings for an infestation with the boxwood spider mite.
