Saturday, October 16, 2021

GardenDC Podcast Episode 79: Boxwood


In this episode, we talk with Bennett Saunders, General Manager of Saunders Genetics LLC, all about boxwood from propagation tips to dealing with blight and leaf miner. The plant profile is on Hardy Begonia and I share what's going on locally and in my garden.


EPISODE LENGTH: 50:18

00:40 Meet Bennett Saunders!

01:10 Getting introduced to the business at age 10 

02:10 “He bought his partner out for, like, 50 cents” — Bennett on how his dad bought a nursery in the late 1940s.

04:20 “If you bought a boxwood at Kmart in the ‘70s or ‘80s, you have one of the Saunders’ boxwoods” 

04:44 Working in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains

06:20 Recently started online business: Saunders Brothers Farm Market 

08:10 “Green is a color, and green is beautiful!” — Boxwood, after being ignored for the other more colorful plants 

10:00 Ever wondered where boxwood came from? 

12:50 All about how to propagate boxwood 

17:50 Their boxwood grows in their field for anywhere from three years up to 12 years

18:10 Bennett’s ‘Dee Runk’ boxwood in his front walk is currently 15 feet tall!

19:40 Finding their “Artists’ Palette” when propagating boxwood 

21:00 Boxwood blight crisis in 2011 and other issues

25:40 “We finally took it upon ourselves to find cultivars and to breed cultivars which would … show more insect- and disease-resistance” — Bennett, on the formation of Saunders Genetics 

28:50 How to prune boxwood: “A real tight shearing makes the plant more susceptible to boxwood blight” — Bennett

31:00 Why English boxwood is now a “thing of the past” — Bennett

32:00 How to deal with overgrown boxwood

33:00 “That garden was old, and it was tired” — Bennett, on renovating the Rose Garden at the White House

34:50 Fun fact: Bennett’s father supplied plants to Jackie Kennedy in 1962!

36:00 Pros and Cons of different kinds of Boxwood Varieties 

39:20 “Be careful” how you use boxwood clippings for holiday decorations — Bennett

41:30 Management practices for avoiding disease: visit https://www.saundersbrothers.com and https://www.newgenboxwood.com for more information!

43:00 If you have any questions, you can contact Bennett at bennett@saundersbrothers.com!

43:30 Last word of advice: “You need to do your homework first” if you want to grow boxwood — Bennett 

44:26 Learn about the “delicate pink or white dangling flowers” of this week’s plant profile, the Hardy Begonia

46:00 Community garden update: Harvesting spinach and BIG blooming yellow marigolds!

47:00 Upcoming events: Giving a talk at Brookside Gardens and Homestead Gardens about winter and holiday gardening, and a conference at Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Counsels

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! See how at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

The episode is posted at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/episodes/Episode-79---Boxwood-e18rqio

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

Episode Credits
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Interview Edits: Charlotte Crook
Notes: Melena DiNenna
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