Which boxwood?

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Lalasland Midland City, AL Jul 29, 2007

What variety of boxwood would be the best to use to make a low hedge with?

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Smokey_SC Piedmont, SC(Zone 7b) Jul 29, 2007

It is called a dwarf boxwood. Check at local nurseries or online.

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Jul 31, 2007

Yes, Dwarf is the one you need, it grows to about 3 feet if you want it that tall, it needs pruned once a year to keep it bushy and growing well, also good soil with added manure to help keep the roots moist and fed, if you buy really 8/12 in tall plants (and I really recomend that you do as these will root into a new environment better than really large plants) you need to space the plants out at about 8 to 10 inches appart, then you have to just water them often as the roots will dry out in the summer heat, best to do this job of hedge planting at the end of the season which will give you time now to prepare the soil before your plants arrive, just nip off the tips of all the stems as you plant so that as they build up new roots, they will then start to send out new growing tips, this is what makes the hedge really thick and bushy, feed again in spring, you then need to prune in July/ August, but till the hedge reaches the hight you want, then each year you just very lightly trim off about half an inch of all the new growth, this will start to give you the shape you want as far as the line of the hedge and will give you the start of the width you want, dont cut off too much new growth or you will cut into the old wood and weeken the hedge, they are the easiest hedges to care for as they need one cut per year and because the leaf is small, you get a far bushier small fine hedge, there are several types of Dwarf Box plants, verigated (Yellow) green and a rusty coloured one, the yellow or green are the more reliable ones. I planted my hedge 4 years ago in UK, the plants were 6 inch tall when planted, my hedge is now 18 inch high, thick and growing well, hope in another two to three years it will have the hight I want to keep it which is 2 feet from the soil. hope this helps you, good luck, WeeNel.

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Lalasland Midland City, AL Jul 31, 2007

Wow! You really covered all the bases for me...thank you, thank you!

I remember from my childhood that everybody here had boxwood hedges and foundation plantings. I loved them even then, but for some reason they fell out of favor (I guess because everybody had them!) I'm so glad to see them coming back. There is just something "friendly" about boxwoods. They bring back happy memories of my grandparents' home.

Just one more question...what do you feed yours with, WeeNel?

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