I have a nice thick boxwood with some good branches that I’d like to collect. Should I cut it back this year and allow it to grow in the ground? It seems like it would be the best way to put on some strong new growth, but my only concern is it growing leggy new branches that I might have to remove again, leaving me where I started.
If you can cut back and let a piece remain in ground to recover it will always recover better in ground than in a container. That said old growth boxwood will probably require scion grafts in the future to get the branching where you want it. Good news is they take grafts well.
Thanks. Maybe I’ll just try grafting a few parts of itself while it’s in the ground this year.