Common Boxwood Broad-Leafed Evergreen Shrub
Shaped as globes and cubes and teddy bears, this is the plant most commonly used in formal gardens to shear into fantastic shapes. Besides topiary and trimmed hedges, the common boxwood also makes an uncommonly beautiful specimen in old age, since it grows quite slowly into a gnarled, spreading, and open treelike shrub. 10 to 20 feet in height and width. Most of us know it as a young plant, however,
ever, when it is a dainty, rounded. compact shrub. It does not do well in extremes of heat and cold, and is subject to a wide variety of insect and disease pests.
Plant boxwood in well-drained, moist soil that has been generously amended with organic matter, and mulch heavily to provide a cool, moist root run. Each year prune out the inner dead twigs and remove the fallen leaves that accumulate in the branch crotches. This will help prevent twig canker disease, which is common in the East. Never cultivate around boxwoods, because they root close to the surface. They will not tolerate drought. Protect them from drying winds and extreme temperatures, and give them medium shade in hot climates, medium shade to full sun elsewhere. Many cultivars are available for increased hardiness and different forms and sizes. `Northern Find’ and ‘Vardar Valley’ are two of the hardiest (to Zone 5).
Buxus microphylla (Littleleaf Boxwood) is similar to the common boxwood, except that it is slightly hardier and more finely textured, and its foliage usually turns yellow-brown in cold weather. However, ‘Tide Hill’, ‘Wintergreen’, and others are cultivars of Buxus microphylla var. koreana (Korean Boxwood) that are hardy to Zone 5 and retain their excellent green foliage all winter long. Cultural instructions and landscape uses are the same as for common boxwood.
