Preserving Boxwood

I love preserved boxwood wreaths and topiaries so I decided I would pick up a boxwood shrub this summer to use for future projects. If you are lucky enough to already have a boxwood shrub in your yard why not try this easy project. In order to preserve boxwood you need glycerin, dye (if you want to keep the leaves green), and citric acid (the citric acid appears to be optional, as not all recipes include it). The glycerin allows the plant to be preserved, but still pliable and soft for bending into wreaths. Mix one part glycerin with two parts water. I picked up my boxwood shrub at Home Depot for about $20. I plan on working it into a live topiary shrub at some point. The glycerin proved to be a little more difficult to find. Some pharmacies carry it, but it took me 4 stops before I found a bottle at a Sprouts grocery store (none at my Walgreen's). You can also find the glycerin and the citric acid at soap making supply stores. This is a two part post with the second part being the actual projects made with the preserved boxwood stems. I have some inspiration photos below from Pinterest. The preserving will take a few weeks so start now and you will have plenty of time to make holiday wreaths and topiaries to keep and give.

For This Project You Will Need:

Boxwood shrub

Glycerin

Dye (optional)

Hammer

Glass or Ceramic Container

Start by giving your Boxwood shrub a little haircut. Trim off branches that are healthy looking. Use only nice looking branches with no spots on the leaves. 

Pull off a few leaves at the bottom of the stems and give the end a little smash with a hammer. This is supposed to help the stem take up the glycerin better.

Determine how much solution you will need for the preserving. The standard rule of thumb is one ounce of glycerin solution to one ounce of plants. A standard recipe you can use is 2 parts water to 1 part glycerin. So my recipe was the same, but I added colorant:

1 Part Glycerin to 2 parts water

*1 tsp of Concentrated Dye (optional)

*The leaves of the boxwood will turn golden colored if you do not add dye. The other option is to spray paint the preserved boxwood stems green when dried.

Add 1 teaspoon of dye to 1/2 cup of hot water and set aside.

Place hot water in a glass or ceramic container.

Stir in glycerin until dissolved.

Add the remaining dye solution, making sure your total is still 2 parts water to one part glycerin.

Once the solution has cooled down add your stems. My shrub is pretty small so my stems were not very long. I found I needed lower containers to fit the branches. If your stems are nice and long a wide vase would be perfect. Make sure all the exposed part of the stem is soaking in the glycerin and water solution.

Allow your stems to soak up all of the solution. It should take about 1-2weeks. Allow to be fully dried for about 3 -5 weeks before using. 

XOX,

The Rebel Crafter