Boxwood Hedge

Location

General Plants

Buxus sempervirens

  • ​Common Name: Boxwood Hedge (other common names: American Boxwood, Box, Boxwood)
  • Scientific Name: Buxus sempervirens
  • Family Name:     Buxaceae
  • Origin: native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia, from southern England south to northern Morocco, and east through the northern Mediterranean region to Turkey.
  • Height: 8’ – 10’ (depends on pruning)
  • Width: 2’ – 3’ (depends on pruning)
  • Growth: slow, less than 12” a year
  • Zone: 5A – 9A
  • Light Needs: Full Sun to Partial Shade
  • Salt Tolerance:  low – extremely sensitive to salt
  • Soil/PH/Texture: can adapt to most soils, neutral (pH 6.6 – 7.5) but needs soil that drains well.
  • Soil Moisture: average water needs, regular but do not over water
  • Drought Tolerance: extremely
  • Pests/Diseases: Boxwood leafminer, Monarthropalpusi flavus (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is the most serious insect pest, The Boxwood Mite, and Boxwood Psyllid. Also susceptible to boxwood blight.
  • Growing Conditions: easy to grow and low maintenance besides the pruning.
  • Characteristics: grown for its rich green foliage, blooms are white – Chartreuse in color and appear in the summer.
  • Propagation: by seed or softwood or semi-hard stem cuttings
  • Wildlife: attracts bees – pollinated by bees and flies
  • Facts: cultivated in 2004 by Rusow-Monrovia (PP15243; aka Green Tower®) Can cause an allergic reaction or skin irritation if handled and all parts of this plant are poisonous.
  • Designer Considerations: can be used as a hedge, along a walkway or foundation, windbreak, border plant, and great as a container plant, and the leaves can be used in Christmas arrangements.
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