Nuts.

[kneesroverrated]

The boxwood that otterwort and I worked so hard to transplant is a casualty of winter. After growing next to the house for all those years, plus what we had to do to get it out, it was not a terribly well-balanced shrub. It seems that the weight of the ice on the leaves was more than the truncated and not-yet-re-established root ball could handle, and the

Comments

[otterwort]

It may still survive as long as the roots don't dry out. Watering is not an option until spring, though (damage from the expansion of freezing water), as you're probably aware.

The dirt and mulch is a good idea, and you can probably top it off with snow if you have it. Perhaps even a couple of well-placed rocks (or frozen bags of mulch) to keep it from tipping out again. Ah, sub-zero gardening....

Or, if it's pulled entirely out of the ground, you might be able to store it bare-root, in a tub of shredded damp newspaper or something, and then re-seat it in spring. But the newspaper would need to remain soaked but not frozen, until spring.

When re-seating it in its hole, one trick might be to place a rock down in the hole, on the side that needs the weight and on top of a main section of root. Generally rocks aren't great for roots, but it could provide the needed balance until the plant digs itself in better.

[kneesroverrated]

I hadn't processed the why of it, but yeah, watering in this weather just seemed like a generally bad idea.

There really isn't much of a hole to work with -- that was a pretty shallow root-ball we ended up with, more sort of a root-saucer. But counter-balancing with a rock (or a bag of mulch, if I can pry another one loose) on top is a good idea.

[otterwort]

I always get confused on the "box" things so I looked them up....

Boxelder trees are Acer negundo, a type of native maple. Looking at the wiki photos, I'm almost certain that this is the small tree in kneesroverrated's berm area that I couldn't identify. "Impenetrable thickets"...yeah, that's probably it.

The theory is that the "box" part comes from a similarity of the wood to the wood of boxwood (Buxus). Wikipedia says the wood is one of the few that is denser than water, and if the tree dies then kneesroverrated can turn it into a chess set or violin fittings.

I'm sure you both were just dying to know all that.

[kneesroverrated]

if the tree dies then kneesroverrated can turn it into a chess set or violin fittings.

I'm sure you both were just dying to know all that.

Well, actually, that would be useful to know... if the damn things ever died.

[kneesroverrated]

Yup, those are boxwoods. Nice, hardy, well-behaved bushes, and green year-round, too.

It's a tough little bush -- witness it not dying when otterwort and I used an axe to get it out of its previous location -- so I'm still holding out some hope. Just not holding my breath.