Upcycling a box plant (or other plants) from the garden

[Richard Gawler]

The box plant in my front garden died early this year. Quite abruptly too. I've waited months to see if it would come back to life but nothing. Yesterday I dug out the root ball. Knowing that box wood can be machined and tapped and so on, I wonder if it is worth keeping the root ball and some of the larger limbs? The plant was like a tiny twig in 2000, and ended up about a metre across. A bit sad really, and I am too old to grow another one!

 

[David Waite]

If you have a use for it or just want to try turning it in to something, you need dry it out, by putting it away from direct sunlight but in a warm place on a shelf with plenty of air movement around it and in a area that is not humid for a good year before you start.
David.

 

[Paul_H]

Box is highly prized amongst woodturners. Anything over an inch in diameter is usable, if solid and not split.
If you need to cut it smaller, keep it in as large a pieces as possible. Then paint over the cut ends with PVA glue to slow down drying and keep it from splitting.
You could use it for making model parts, it's a wonderful wood to work, but making bits out of wood seems rather out of fashion. You would need to let it fully dry and dimensionally stabilise before use, usually reckoned at about a year per inch thickness.

 

[James Spooner]

The box plant in my front garden died early this year. Quite abruptly too. I've waited months to see if it would come back to life but nothing. Yesterday I dug out the root ball. Knowing that box wood can be machined and tapped and so on, I wonder if it is worth keeping the root ball and some of the larger limbs? The plant was like a tiny twig in 2000, and ended up about a metre across. A bit sad really, and I am too old to grow another one!

Yes, I think that will be the dreaded box moth. I have/had two bushes which were attacked last year but somehow recovered. Not this spring though. I am currently investigating alternatives and one promising plant seems to be the Ilex crenata Green Glory Luxus (or box leaved Japanese holly).

Nigel

 

[simond]

the dreaded box moth

presumably a distant relative of the fabled wallet moth.

 

[Ian@StEnochs]

presumably a distant relative of the fabled wallet moth.

It’s not a fable, it’s real!

 

[djparkins]

It’s not a fable, it’s real!

Absolutely. Many modellers l know are living proof!

 

[Richard Gawler]

April 2021


March 2024


Not much for 24 years
I've reduced the acceptance criteria from an inch to 3/4 inch too

 

[Osgood]

Might any of the smaller discards make decent trunks for 7mm trees?
Because those above, if scaled down, certainly would.
Might provide a load for a bogie bolster or two (ah - a slight era clash ).

 

[Richard Gawler]

Might any of the smaller discards make decent trunks for 7mm trees?

Perhaps, but only in the right hands.

I fear such small pieces would dry out and go brittle; and maybe the bark would fall off too. I would find pipe cleaners soaked in plaster easier to work with, but I'll keep some small parts for a while.

 

[oldravendale]

The box blight is a sad affliction. Fortunately we have none here but have had in other gardens. It must be heart breaking to see a carefully tended plant fall victim to a visiting moth!

Brian

 

[Jon Nazareth]

Richard
Keep as much of the box as you can, it's brilliant stuff to machine. I use it to make the wooden brake blocks for my wagons et al.

Jon

 

[simond]

It is sad to see such a lovely thing go downhill.

whilst I do have an A level in biology, botany was never my thing.
That said, the third picture, I think I’m safe to say, “it’s dead”.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Keep as much of the box as you can, it's brilliant stuff to machine. I use it to make the wooden brake blocks for my wagons et al.

How thin can pieces be and still be useful?
(I've got a slot booked at the dump tomorrow so I still have time to decide what to keep!)

 

[Jon Nazareth]

Richard
If it was me, I'd keep it all! You never know when it'll come in handy.

Jon

 

[Richard Gawler]

Well I'm no horticulturalist but this particular plant kept changing direction while it was growing. Sometimes the main limbs (c.10 mm across) turned through almost a right angle. Most of the limbs were much smaller. Perhaps due to the way I pruned it!

So I am keeping the pieces I might use, and with a bit of luck and imagination I can post the results here in a year or two’s time

 

[Richard Gawler]

The box blight is a sad affliction. Fortunately we have none here but have had in other gardens. It must be heart breaking to see a carefully tended plant fall victim to a visiting moth!

Better a moth than neighbours. Around the mid-life mark a neighbour (since left) drove into it. Broke a piece off and shoved it back in to fill the hole I noticed when this bit turned brown. Still, the plant grew back to fill the hole. The whole thing went through several topiary designs, of which a "floating globe" was far too ambitious and the slab-sided cube was the most compatible with cars.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Might any of the smaller discards make decent trunks for 7mm trees?

Perhaps, but only in the right hands.

I found these two, when I was emptying the bags at the dump.

These would scale to around 55 and 70 feet high in 7 mm scale. Fingers crossed they dry out slowly.

 

[Osgood]

Please tell me that's not Astroturf

 

[Richard Gawler]

The background here is the floor of my outdoor workshop. An irregular shape, perhaps 9 square metres in all, where I can put a portable workbench for woodwork or spray painting and the cat can sunbathe.

This flooring has brought many benefits - no need for a garden path (which would divied the space and make it unusable for anything), no need for a lawn mower. And I can vacuum it after I finish, so unwanted neighbours keep their distance