STIHL tip
If your topiary is still young, you should cover the freshly shaped box bush with fleece for two days or so.
Trimming boxwood: ball
Cutting your box bush into a ball will create a beautiful and unique feature for your garden. Our instructions explain how to do it step by step.
21.11.2025
Preparation: trimming a boxwood into a ball shape
To cut a box bush into a ball, you need the right tools and a few helpful utensils. In the following list you can find everything you should have ready before starting.
- Sturdy wire (1 mm)
- Old tablecloth/sheet
- 2 mm green plastic-coated wire
- Thin but sturdy cord
- Thin fleece
- Cable ties
- Box or yew bush for the ball
- STIHL HSA 26 battery shrub shears
- Secateurs, e.g. STIHL PG 10
- Side-cutters/pliers
- Heavy-duty shears
- Measuring tape / folding rule
Working with high-performance power tools is fun and allows you to broaden your skills, which is great if you can rely on effective and safe protective clothing.
Always wear your personal protective equipment when working with STIHL power tools. Find out more in the operating instructions for your product. Before using your power tool for the first time, fully familiarise yourself with it and ensure that it is in perfect condition before each use.
On request, your STIHL dealer will be happy to prepare your power tool for its first job, and will also advise you on models and sizes of protective clothing that you can try on at your leisure. Please remember that personal protective equipment is no substitute for safe working.
Instructions: cutting a box ball
A ball is a simple and visually appealing option for cutting a boxwood into shape. Learn how to trim your bush into a ball.
To cut your box bush into a ball, start by making a wire frame. To do this, take the wire and shape four or more pieces of wire to create the planned circumference of the ball, based on the plant size. Remove any protruding wire.
Push all the pieces of wire into the ground to create a scaffold outlining your boxwood ball. All the pieces should intersect like a dome, at one point above the bush.
Connect the wires together with a cable tie or piece of wire; leave the wire frame in place. Now it’s time to wait until your box bush has grown enough that it fills the wire shape sufficiently and you can cut it to be round.
Once the box bush has grown enough, use a hedge trimmer to remove any stems that are protruding beyond the wire frame. Use an old sheet or tablecloth to collect the cuttings.
Proceed gradually, making sure you are moving towards making the box bush into a ball shape.
Once you have evened everything out, you can remove the wire frame and compost or recycle the cuttings. Keep the ball at its current size or allow it to increase in circumference
Use a template to maintain shape
Once you have trimmed your boxwood into a ball, you should use a template to trim it regularly so that it will remain beautiful in the long term. To maintain your box bush, make a customised cardboard template to the radius of your topiary ball; this will serve as a cutting aid for your work with the hedge trimmer.
It is recommended to tilt the cardboard by 90 degrees to reach the lower parts. Shorten any outlying stems using secateurs.
STIHL tip
Protect your box bush from sunlight immediately after a maintenance trim by covering it with thin fleece for about two days. Mature compost is recommended for fertilising your boxwood ball later on.
Selecting a variety and when to cut
Not all box bushes are created equal. The low-growing, densely bushy and very cut-tolerant Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’ variety is particularly suitable for shaping.
If you want to cut your box bush into a ball, it is good to do so during the growth season from May to the end of August. An old gardening rule can help you remember: prune box in months without an “R”. Please also note the legal regulations around boxwood pruning summarised below.
You should additionally prune once or twice a year so that your box ball retains its beautiful shape. A dry, cloudy day is ideal for pruning, so your box ball is not affected by disease or burned by the sun after pruning.
An elegant and delicate look: a topiary spiral.
Box balls: alternative ideas
You can cut your box into a ball – or choose a more advanced possibility for box bush shaping. How about cutting a pyramid, cone, animal figure or box spiral?
There are hardly any limits to your creativity here, as long as you have a little aptitude for trimming and enough time. And it’s not just for individual plants: you can also unleash your box topiary skills on an entire hedge. And it need not always be boxwood: A beech hedge, privet hedge or thuja hedge can also be cut artistically into shape.
Regulations for box bush pruning
In order to protect breeding and nesting sites, the German Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz) prohibits extensive hedge cutting between 1 March and 30 September. You must not cut back bushes or other shrubs during this time. Minor maintenance and shaping are permitted and not environmentally harmful. Here you can find more information on when you can cut hedges.
Important questions and answers
You can cut a boxwood ball with a wire frame, a template or freehand.
A wire frame can help you shape a box bush that has not previously been cut into the desired shape.
A homemade cardboard template is particularly suitable for maintenance trimming.
You should only make minor corrections freehand.
It is best to choose a mild, cloudy day during the growth season from May to the end of August to prune your box bush into a ball.
Yes, boxwood is winter-hardy. This means that it does not require any special care during the cold season.
However, a potted box ball should be wrapped in bubble wrap to insulate it against low temperatures – otherwise the cold will affect the roots from all sides.
Box bushes are decorative and easy to maintain. They are also very cut-tolerant and will reshoot again and again.
Box bushes are toxic to humans and animals, so particular care should be taken in households with children and pets. They are also susceptible to diseases, fungal infestations and attack by the box tree caterpillar.
