How to Graft Boxwood

Boxwood is a slowly growing shrub used extensively in landscaping to create barriers, borders and topiaries. It is an evergreen that will stand out against the bare surroundings and provide color and texture to your landscaping scheme year round. If a boxwood is damaged and loses a branch, you can graft a new branch in its place by taking a cutting from an inconspicuous spot on another plant. This process takes many years to complete successfully, but, the plant will appear to be fixed almost immediately.

2 established boxwood hedges
Sharp, non-serrated knife
Latex paint
Artist's paint brush
Baling twine
Plant food
Water
Fertilizer
Work gloves
Safety glasses

Instructions

- 1
  Cut a 6-inch branch from one of the boxwood shrubs with your knife. Cut perpendicular to the branch as close to the parent stalk as possible.
- 2
  Trim the end to a 30-degree angle and lay it aside. Use your artist's paint brush to coat the open wound on the parent stalk of the boxwood hedge with latex paint.
- 3
  Find a spot on one of the larger main stalks of the other hedge that is free of blemish. Trim away the bark of the stalk and shave it so that the exposed wood is flat.
- 4
  Hold the angled end of the cut branch against the exposed area of the new parent shrub. Wrap baling twine around the juncture to bind the branch to its new home. Tie a triple knot in the twine to hold it in place.
- 5
  Water the plant daily. Feed it weekly. Add fertilizer around the roots of the boxwood monthly. Replace the baling twine every three months for four to five years or until the wood is completely healed.

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