名媛直播

My husband recently acquired this tree for me as a gift and it has been marked as a "Privet". However, the leaves look a bit more rounded than that and look more like the photos of boxwood leaves? I just want to see if someone can confirm the ID for me, as it's winter here in Australia and we drop a bit low in temp for the recommendations for a boxwood.
PS: The potting soil you see is NOT for the tree, Promise!!


(Super excited to learn all this This tree is a little more spindly than I would have picked for myself, but that just gives me goals )

A picture would help.

Depends on what you cal low temperatures. Box are hardy to at least -8C also Privet, unless it is Chinese Privet but in you climate not a problem.

It's a privet.
Doesnt look too healthy, and looks as if it has been pruned and potted recently. I'd just water it, fertilise in a few weeks after it has settled, and then after it is healthy and throws shoots of 20 cm in a week or 2-3 cut back hard ( really hard) , it is way too long, ratio trunk/branches is wrong ( it doesnt look like a tree now).Or you leave it this long and just wait till the trunk has fattened up in about 10 years ( if you plant it in the garden, and don't leave it in this ( now too big) bonsai pot.
Concerning temps: DO NOT place it inside, trees die inside. I can be wrong but i dont think Australia has deep frost ( below -10-ish)

I though it looked a little.."Fresh"...for a tree that SHOULD be in dormancy. We don't tend to get to more than a few degrees below 0, less so as the years are going by. Mostly wanted to confirm that

I'm glad that my first impression of the tree's generally seems to be relatively correct...although not glad at what that impression is, lol. I've managed to successfully rescue some non-名媛直播 plants before so I'll treat it with the same kid gloves for now. Thank you for the guidance in getting it to a more "Tree like" appearance; I will make sure to save this information!!

You made a brief note about the too-big pot. Is this going to be a problem I should correct when the plant is more stable? Or just know I won't need to repot it for ages?

Thank you again!!

Did the photos come through? Some seem to be able to see them some not...I will see if I can add them on now just in case

Photos placed as attachments because i don't know how else to do it without a hyperlink lol

Box do not lose leaves, they are an evergreen broadleaf species. 0C is not cold, it might be for you but not for Buxus.

Don't repot it again, just leave it for now. Although the pot is too big for the plant now it won't harm it if it is left in there till spring

I have attached a picture of a possible hard prune.The bottom cuts should be directly against the trunc. Mind that i dont see it in real life, its very difficult to judge a tree from a flat 2d picture. but only do that ( or something else when it is healthy ( on the other hand, privets are almost impossible to kill...).
But again,this is a very young plant, that could benefit from 5-10 years planted in the garden to fatten up... it's all up to you

Thank you!! I'd like to be able to plant it in the garden for a bit, but I'm a renter. We don't PLAN on moving any time in the next few years, but we don't always get a choice in the matter unfortunately. It will have to resign itself to a pot, alas.

When it's showing me a good time to do a hard cutback, I will hopefully either have gained the knowledge to pick the best spot, or will ask The back "branch" is actually a random ass second "trunk" I'm thinking of lopping off altogether because it looks silly...but I'm also thinking of trying to guide it up to split the fork more evenly (and rotate the plant to showcase this during a re-pot). I will take my time to decide; I've got years to consider it, after all!

Thank you once again!!