Caring for My Boxwood at the Farm
Our spring gardening season is very busy - my outdoor grounds crew, gardeners, and I are all working very hard to keep everything looking its best.
As you know, I love boxwood, Buxus, and have hundreds of these bold green shrubs growing all over my Bedford, New York farm. I take very special care of these specimens - they are regularly pruned and groomed, and in winter they are covered in a layer of protective burlap. I also spray them monthly with TopBuxus Health Mix, which prevents the fungal disease called box blight and provides the plants with rich nutrients that restore new green leaves and strong branch growth.
Enjoy these photos and my short video.
-
- This is my long 450-foot Boxwood Allee. It runs from my stable all the way to the carriage road that leads to my hayfields and woodlands.
-
- Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.
-
- Twice a year, we groom and prune the boxwood. This is always done with hand shears to give them a more clean and manicured appearance.
-
- During the cold months, I always cover my boxwood to protect them from frost and wind. This year, I used the same metal used to make hoop houses – strong industrial steel ground uprights and purlin pipes to support the burlap.
-
- When covered in burlap, the entire allee takes on a whole new look.
-
- In the winter of 2018-2019, blistery winds dried out some of the leaf tissue making them look brown. In most cases, the leaves were discolored but the buds were still alive, which means the branches were also still alive.
-
- To help restore the boxwood, I started using TopBuxus Health Mix, a targeted foliar treatment that prevents blight fungal spores.
-
- The mix comes in individually packaged tablets.
-
- The tablets are small – just an inch in diameter. Each one is made up of 8-0-10 fertilizer with secondary nutrients. One tablet treats up to 100 square feet of boxwood.
-
- We have been using TopBuxis around the farm for almost two years. Every month or so, we give all the boxwood a good spray.
-
- This giant boxwood shrub is on my terrace parterre in front of my Winter House.
-
- This boxwood surrounds my herbaceous peonies. This photo was taken in June of last year – look at how much greener it became, and there’s so much new growth.
-
- I also use TopBuxus Grow – a fast-acting boxwood fertilizer that stops and prevents yellow-straw colored leaves. It is an eco- and pollinator-friendly product that also comes in easy-to-use tablets.
-
- Once the tablets are dissolved into a mixture, it’s poured into my brand new Fimco 30-gallon Trailer Sprayer from Tractor Supply Company.
-
- The sprayer hitches onto my Polaris Ranger 1000 so easily and can be used all over the farm.
-
- This spring, the boxwood is looking so wonderful and healthy.
-
- And it is growing greener every day. I am so pleased with how the TopBuxus has helped.
-
- Even the small boxwood lining my long pergola is doing excellently.
-
- And of course, here is my Boxwood Allee – lush and green.
-
- Now that I am spending more time at home, I am able to get out there and do a lot of spraying myself. It takes time and effort to care for all of these plantings, but what a reward it is to see them flourishing in spring.
And here's a short video of me spraying Topbuxus in the Allee using my Fimco sprayer - yes, Martha knows how!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
