HOW TO TAKE CUTTINGS FROM BOX HEDGING

How to take cuttings from box hedging

The clipped box hedge - Buxus sempervirens is an iconic addition to both grand Royal palaces and traditional country gardens alike. Perfect for maintaining the tight, crisp border of a traditional knot garden, or even expressing the artistic foibles of a topiary expert, the humble box plant has yet to find a horticultural equal.

Box  hedging cutting 

Of course, if you wanted to create you own box masterpiece be prepared to have deep pockets because they are not the cheapest plant to buy and even the simplest of design could call for hundreds of plants.

The solution? Take your own box hedge cuttings - they are easy to do and easy to take. But the best thing about doing it yourself is that you can produce an awful lot of plant material for almost next to nothing! However, when it come to taking box cutting, it is all about timing.

The rather uninspiring period between autumn and winter is actually one of the best times of the year to take Box cuttings. All you need to do is remove a strong healthy stem, about four inches long, from a healthy parent plant. Trim the base up to just below a couple of buds and then remove the lower two thirds of leaves. If you have a sandy soil in a sheltered site its possible to place the cutting directly into the ground, however a safer way would be to use a terracotta pot using a standard potting mix.

box hedging

Push your cuttings into the compost at the side of the pot - spreading them evenly around the edge. Label them and water with a dilute fungicide. To accelerate rooting, tie a bag around the pot and secure with an elastic band.

Cuttings should have rooted within several weeks. Check by carefully lifting pots and seeing whether roots are visible through the drainage holes at the base of the pot.

Over-winter in a cold frame or cool greenhouse then, come the spring, plant out into individual pots taking care to disturb the juvenile root systems as little as possible. Within a year or so you will have plants of an ideal size suitable for creating new box hedging. Not only would you be saving a small fortune from buying Box plants at your local nursery or garden centre, you will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you produced them yourself.

For related articles click onto the following links:
HOW TO CONTROL BOX BLIGHT
HOW TO GROW A LEYLANDII HEDGE
HOW TO GROW THE VIRGINIA CREEPER FROM CUTTINGS
HOW TO TAKE CUTTINGS OF ABELIA
HOW TO PROPAGATE BOX HEDGING PLANTS
HOW TO TAKE CUTTINGS FROM BOX HEDGING
How to Take Hardwood Cuttings
PESTS AND DISEASES OF BOX HEDGING PLANTS (Buxus sempervirens)
WHEN DO YOU TRIM BOX HEDGING?
WHEN DO YOU CUT BACK A LEYLANDII HEDGE?