Box (Buxus sempervirens)
Box is a slow growing hardy
native evergreen hedging plant with fragrant
foliage. Box flowers are yellow and insignificant
and appear in March and April depending on location. The very dense
growth habit and small, glossy dark green leaves of Common Box
make it ideal for low formal hedging and topiary.
Along with Yew,
Privet
and Laurel,
Box is the most shade tolerant of the hedge
plants. It actually prefers partial shade and Box
hedging does well in deep shade.
Box wood is hard, close grained, bright yellow
and polishes well so it is often used for inlay work. Today
Box is used to make the best mallet heads,
and most of us can remember yellow box wood
school rulers. If you are plagued with deer, Box
is not immune to damage, but they tend ot leave it to last.
There is little mythology attached to Box,
although it is a sacred plant in Georgia where Box
twigs are taken to church on Palm Sunday to bring protection
to the home and good luck to the family. The plant is poisonous
to humans (don't worry, Box tastes disgusting)
and it is used in homeopathy in treatments for epilepsy and
malaria.
Box can (after many years) produce
a magnificent large hedge, but unless you are
extremely patient it is best used for hedging
that is between 30cm and 80 cms tall. It should be planted at
5 per metre in a single row. The Box in the trough
(see the Images tab below) were 30/40cms hedging
plants photographed immediately after planting. Box
hedging is traditionally clipped on on Derby
Day (although we think that is 2 weeks too late).
Because it grows so slowly, Buxus sempervirens
is also excellent as potted or ground grown topiary. The best
soils for box are chalky but good Box
hedges will grow anywhere that is well drained.
We also sell container
grown Dwarf Box hedging plants for smaller topiary and cloud
and formal hedging around kitchen gardens.
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Will grow more rapidly when mulched with mushroom compost & side dressed with blood, fish & bone in Spring. Box needs trimming before the end of the May otherwise it is liable to leaf burn which looks like someone has scorched the plants with fertilizer (especially when trimming on very sunny days). It also needs another trim in late September or early October to keep it looking tight. Keep the sides sloping (wider at the base than the top) which reduces the ability of water to sit on leaves.
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