New australian boxwood

I bought a new australian boxwood that was in a starter pot. I repotted it, but since it was young i couldnt put the wire to secure the tree and keep it in one place in the root ball because there was none, so i wrapped it around the trunk. Is this ok to do? Also if anyone has any tips on raising australian boxwood please help me out. Thanks.

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Bonsai_james

Dragon

Its not really a good idea to wrap wire around the trunk. The trunk swells as it grows and the wire digs in and the tree has its main supply routes cut - not good. If its impossible to secure via the root ball then use guy strings from either side of the tree and attach these to the pot - see the picture for better understanding

James

PS - BTW its not my tree unfortunately

jarq

Hi :
I think that boxwood is one of the trees with the hardest wood, even heaviest than water. So be careful when bounding an wiring. don´t wire too late or you´ll break.

Robert

Hi Dragon,
I have quite a few boxwoods in my collection, but they are not Australian.....they're Japanese and Korean. I'd presume there are some similarities.
As far as the wiring into the pot, you already have a good suggestion in another response. Remember, the purpose of wiring into the pot is to immobilize the tree so that it can grow hair roots readily. These hair roots are almost microscopic in size, and if the tree is moved in the soil at all, they will break off and not function. These hair roots are the "business" end of the roots; there is where the absorption of water and nutrients occurs.....so they are VERY important for the health and growth of your tree.
My boxwoods are VERY hard wood, and I presume Australian are hard too. This is not a problem to me, though. They can be wired, but it helps if you don't water for a few days before wiring...but they're also wonderful for styling by clipping. They shoot new branches almost everywhere....and you just clip off that which doesn't look like your tree.
Also,they grow well in full sun, but they'll look better and grow faster in partial shade.....or even full shade. They're also a darker green in the shade.
You can design them like an old oak tree, with many contorted branches, and in an open form.....or you can make pads with them easily.I have some in informal upright, slant, cascade, and many of mine have lots of carving, (jin and shari). The interior wood is white, and the bark is pretty white too.....so what I've done on some of mine, to create a color contrast, is put quite a bit of india ink into the lime sulphur which I apply to prevent rot . It gives the interior wood a greyish color incontrast to the almost white bark.
Of course boxwoods are VERY hardy......you almost can't kill them, except by overwatering with poor drainage.
Japanese Boxwood are used here, (in California) very frequently for hedges, and when people want to remove a hedge, there are LOTS of bonsai coming from the old hedges. That's how I've gotten most of mine.
Hope this is helpsful,
Robert........in Sta.Cruz

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Robert.........in Sta.Cruz

revt

Are you sure that your "Australian boxwood" is a species of buxus, and not Pittosporum undulatum? If it is native to Australia it almost certainly isn't. If it is not buxus, much of what you will read about the care and training of boxwoods will not apply.

rockm

There is no boxwood native to Australia. Sure you have a true boxwood?