Boxwood has not only been planted in European gardens for centuries, but also serves as an essential element of artistic garden design. The evergreen shrub is also suitable for keeping in a container, for example as a small ball on the balcony or terrace. To ensure that your Buchs thrives there, you should repot it every two to three years:
How should you repot a boxwood correctly?
To properly repot a boxwood, you should provide fresh substrate every two to three years and a larger pot if necessary. Carefully remove old soil, cut back roots if necessary, and use well-draining soil. The optimal time for repotting is spring.
Repot the boxwood in the pot regularly
A planter, whether small or large, only offers a limited space for root growth. For most potted plants, this fills up within a short time, so that both root growth and the upper parts of the plant suffer. If the roots are permanently stuck in a pot that is too narrow, they will no longer absorb enough water and nutrients. The result is: The box gradually dries out, becomes susceptible to pathogens and pests and - if the condition is not remedied as quickly as possible - eventually dies.
How to do it
Treat your boxwood with fresh substrate about every two to three years and, if necessary, a larger pot. This should always be at least five centimeters larger than the rootstock so that the roots have enough space to grow. If root growth stops, the upper parts of the plant also wither away. A mixture of potting soil, compost, sand and expanded clay (€19.00 on Amazon) is suitable as a substrate, but you can also buy ready-made boxwood soil. It is only important that the planter has a drainage hole at the bottom of the pot so that excess water can drain away and waterlogging does not form. The optimal time for repotting is spring to around mid / end of April. And this is how you do it:
- Get the box out of its previous planter.
- If it gets stuck, gently tap the bottom and sides of the pot.
- This is how roots and soil loosen.
- Carefully shake off the old soil and check the roots for damage.
- Cut back the roots if necessary.
- This is useful if these have been damaged or the box is no longer supposed to grow.
- Then the above-ground parts of the plant must also be shortened accordingly.
- Submerge the root ball in a bucket of water.
- Place a shard of clay on the bottom of the pot and fill it with some expanded clay.
- This is followed by the substrate.
- Plant the boxwood and press the substrate well.
- Don’t forget to water regularly!
Tip
If you cut back the boxwood, you can also use the cuttings for propagation.
