Taxus, too RE: brown and ugly Japanese Boxwood
- To: ,
- Subject: Taxus, too RE: brown and ugly Japanese Boxwood
- From: K* H*
- Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 02:24:52 -0800
- Importance: Normal
I have several specimens of seedling Taxus baccata. A couple of them keep a
brilliant green color all year, however, most are currently a rather muddy,
unattractive orangeish brown. They seem more likely to go into this state in
containers than in the soil, so I'd guess its not a problem with pH, in the
case of the Taxus, that is.
About the Buxus, i've read it transplants very well. How big are your
specimens?
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
[o*@ucdavis.edu]On Behalf Of Deborah Lindsay
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 10:32 AM
To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: brown and ugly Japanese Boxwood
'Green Beauty'(Buxus microphylla japonica 'Green Beauty')really does hold
its
color best in colder areas like yours. I found recently a variety called
'Faulkner' which has really nice orange fall color. But you said it
yourself,
the English Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)would be better overall for you.
Have
you checked the soil pH?
I have in my new (to me)home garden many old specimens of both species and
the
B.m.japonica is much happier than the B.sempervirens,which wants more water
and
a lower pH than I am willing to provide. I'm looking for a new home for the
latter.
Deborah
____________________Reply Separator____________________
Subject: Re: brown and ugly Japanese Boxwood
Author: Hortica2@aol.com
Date: 12/6/00 1:25 PM
Dear Deborah:
Thanks for your quick response.
Well, there are 50 or so of them and they uniformly look dull through the
summer, a green/gold, healthy, but not exuberant. Then they took on this
'fall color' look of even browner, but still very much alive.
Sometimes tannins in the fir/redwood mulches can affect plants; sometimes
salts in the soil; lack of water; too much water...pinpointing the problem
is
why I reached out for some suggestions. It is no wonder that the big
growers
have named some of the cultivars 'Green Beauty' and the like, because this
is
a common problem that selection alone hasn't solved. Realistically, I
should
stay to English Boxwood here in northern California where summers aren't
warm
enough to ripen tomatoes!
What do you think??
Hortica (David Johnson)
