Boxwood plants make attractive and simple bonsai on account of the full development habit and adaptability. The shrubs shape nicely to several bonsai styles, including slanting, informal upright, twin-trunk and group. Boxwoods (Buxus spp.) Have evergreen leaves and like most bonsai require winter protection when temperatures fall below freezing. Boxwood grown as bonsai needs routine pruning throughout the year to keep that the bonsai shape and style. Heavy pruning begins in midspring as new growth appears.
Wash the blades of bonsai scissors and concave cutters with a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water. Rinse and dry the tools. Wash them after cutting any diseased branches or prior to moving to another bonsai when you prune more than 1 plant.
Remove any damaged or diseased branches. Search for limbs that cross or rub on another. Utilize the concave cutters to take off limbs at the bottom of the trunk or parent branch.
Rotate the boxwood bonsai to check every side for look and shape. Maintain the kind of this boxwood with selective removal and also heading of divisions. Plan which divisions you would like to eliminate prior to making the cuts.
Cut off branches which cross the main trunk or develop parallel to some other limb. Remove branches that develop directly across from one another on the back, to create an alternating branching habit. Clip off limbs which grow vertically.
Thin branches that develop close to open the bonsai and allow more air and light to achieve the internal sections. Boxwoods generally have dense development, and thinning it prevents insects and disease. Keep growth limited by eliminating up to 50 percent of the new growth every year.
Shape the bonsai by cutting back leggy growth that goes beyond the trained form. Pull the branches out to find the best location to create a cut. Hold the division and cut with sharp scissors only above a leaf cluster so that bare stem does not show.