Tips for Growing and Pruning your Boxwood Topiary

After all, they are low-maintenance plants that are easy to grow and keep their shape. Placed in strategic locations in your outdoor landscaping as part of a stunning front door design, they also increase your home’s curb appeal.
Boxwoods thrive in moderate climates. In very hot climates, plant boxwood topiaries in dappled light. In climates with extreme weather, protect boxwood topiaries from harsh wind and snow. Place potted topiaries in a covered area like a shed or behind a tall wall.

What is a Boxwood Topiary?

Choose romantic styles like hydrangeas and roses to create a classic English garden look. Monrovia also recommends spirea, lilac, coneflowers, and Maidengrass as good companion plants.
Add live boxwood topiaries to your front porch or patio. Use them in ornate pots by themselves to create a classical look. You can also pair them with cascading plants like variegated English ivy petunias to soften their formal style. These easy maintenance plants will reward your patient cultivation and care for countless years to come.  
Use an all purpose fertilizer once at the beginning of the growing season in the spring. The boxwood topiaries develop yellow leaves. This is an indication that they are deficient in nitrogen. 

Boxwood Topiary Types

Boxwood topiaries look beautiful in landscape design, lining a patio, or to welcome guests and neighbors at your entrance.
Boxwood topiary plants are low maintenance, but they thrive best in certain conditions.
A boxwood topiary is an evergreen broadleaf shrub with dark to medium green small round or oval leaves that grow in close formation along woody stems. These shrubs are a particular favorite with home improvement guru, Martha Stewart. She prizes them for their shape, fragrance, deer resistance, and long lives.

Common Topiary Shapes

• Boxwood Topiary Balls – Gardeners fashion topiary globes in single, double, and triple ball forms.
• Boxwood Cone Topiary – Boxwood cone topiaries are trees trimmed in the shape of an upside down ice cream cone.
• Boxwood Spiral Topiary – Spiral boxwood topiary is a tall tree that has been trimmed into a continuous spiral form.
• Boxwood Obelisk Topiary – An obelisk is similar to a cone shape but with four flat planes that get wider from the top of the tree to the base.

Live Boxwood Topiary Care Details

Live Boxwood Topiary Needs

Topiaries are plants that gardeners have trimmed into defined shapes and then maintained over the years. Gardeners have utilized boxwoods for topiaries because they are slow growing and have a uniform leaf pattern.

Light Needs

Whether you plant your boxwood topiary in your garden landscape or in pots, remember to use well-draining loamy soil. Use organic mulch around the base of the roots to keep water from pooling around the roots. Make sure that your soil is neutral with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5.

Water Needs

There are three main types of boxwood topiaries. Live boxwood topiary must be planted in soil and watered to stay alive. Live topiaries will grow, so you need to maintain the shape by trimming the growth.

Soil Conditions

Leafminers are a common pest for some varieties of boxwood plants. If you see blistering and discoloration on the leaves, try to reduce the population of leafminers by pruning. Spider mite eggs attach to the bottom side of boxwood leaves in the winter and hatch around May. Treat with horticultural oil. Apply this to combat psyllids as well.

Atmospheric Conditions

Fertilizer

Use a tool like sharp clipping shears to cut off any long or ragged growth to improve the shape of the topiary. Do not use tools with long blades as these will not allow you the fine cut movement necessary for trimming topiaries. Before you begin, disinfect the shears with a solution of 70%-100% alcohol.
Use artificial or preserved boxwood topiaries inside your home to provide more depth and color.

Pests and Diseases

Boxwoods thrive with deep waterings once to twice a week. If topiaries are in pots, they need to be watered more often. Make sure the roots do not sit in water as this can cause root rot. You can avoid this with well-draining soil and a pot with good drainage holes.
Boxwoods are slow growing which makes them ideal for topiary shapes. They grow up to 6 inches or less a year. Trim your topiaries 2-3 times a year to maintain a tight shape or less often for a freer form. Prune in the spring to encourage growth. Avoid pruning in the winter to avoid the bare branches being damaged by the cold. 

Pruning

Your soil may not have the required nutrients that boxwoods need. You will need to enhance the soil with fertilizer more often. You can also use organic fertilizers like compost to supplement the soil and protect the shallow roots as commercial fertilizer can burn them.
Choosing the right pot for your boxwood topiary is important to maintain a thriving plant. The pot should be at least as wide and tall as the topiary’s root ball. It also needs adequate drainage holes to avoid root rot.

Pots for Your Topiary

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Boxwoods are adaptable plants that work well in a variety of light conditions. The best light conditions for boxwoods are direct sunlight in the morning with dappled shade during the hottest part of the day.

Conclusion

Root rot is a common disease for boxwoods. Avoid this by not allowing standing water around the roots of boxwoods and mulching in clay based soils. If you notice stem blight, remove dead branches as soon as possible. Do not put them in compost, but burn them or throw them away. According to the Clemson Cooperative Extension, an effective fungicide for blight is chlorothalonil or chlorothalonil mixed with thiophanate methyl.
You can find live boxwood topiaries for sale at garden nurseries and DIY stores like Home Depot and Lowes. Find artificial boxwood topiaries on large home websites like Wayfair and Amazon or more specific sellers like Nearly Natural. Preserved boxwood topiaries are more expensive than most artificial varieties. Large home decor stores like Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn sell preserved plants. Etsy has smaller providers that sell preserved boxwood topiaries.
A boxwood topiary has an elegant and sophisticated look. Most of us associate boxwood topiaries with formal classical gardens, but these plants have a wider appeal.
The dense shape and style of boxwood allows manufacturers to create real-looking faux boxwood topiary. You can use artificial boxwood topiary inside as well as outdoors year round. These faux plants will collect dust and should be cleaned to preserve their sharp look.