Since I’m pretty confident you will not be spending time outside in your lawn and landscape on this blustery winter day, how about we spend a few minutes discussing one of the most, if not the most, common shrub in the landscape, the boxwood?

With 90 species and over 365 different cultivars of boxwoods, it is easy to see why there is a boxwood for every landscape.

Boxwoods grow naturally in a variety of shapes - rounded, upright, and pyramidal.

Boxwoods also come in a variety of sizes: anywhere from 2’ to 15’ tall and 2’ to 8’ wide.

Boxwoods grow from zone 5 through zone 9. Oh, and in case you are wondering, Oklahoma City is right in the middle, zone 7.

Boxwoods are a landscape staple that have a way of enhancing the garden without competing with other plants. They can be used in a formal garden to add an old-world feel and equally fit in well in a casual landscape setting. In the summertime, they provide a background of green while in the winter the provide structure and color.

Boxwoods easily shear — making them a great choice for hedges, borders, and foundation plantings. While at the same time, boxwoods make a great stand-alone shrub bringing attention to their natural growth habit.

Boxwoods are an excellent choice for a symmetrical planting to frame the landscape, for foundation plantings, for outlining a patio or outdoor seating area to create a room feel, for pathway edges, as a backdrop in the perennial garden, to soften a fence or a wall, or simply planted in a container.

With so many boxwoods, how do you choose the right one for your landscape?

Nine boxwoods I currently enjoy the most:

Winter Gem Boxwood – As a very hardy small hedge, it is a favorite for borders, hedges, and foundation plantings. The Winter Gem has a natural rounded growth habit but shears well, making it easy to shape into spheres, cones, or hedges. The dark green leaves turn a golden bronze hue in the winter, adding an extra interest to the landscape. Winter Gem reaches 4-6’ tall and wide if left untrimmed.

Sprinter Boxwood – An improved Winter Gem introduced by Proven Winters. It is faster growing and maintains a green color through the winter. Use as a low hedge in a formal garden or as a foundation planting. Sprinter Boxwoods grow to 2-4’ tall and wide.

Winter Green Boxwood – Rich green color through the summer and winter. Commonly used as a hedge or foundation planting. Can also be sheared to maintain desired shape and size. Grows 4’ tall and wide.

*Winter Gem Boxwood sheared into a cone shape is a simple way to fill a container.*

*Winter Gem Boxwood in their winter bronze tone add formality to the area around a fountain.*

Baby Gem Boxwood – Compact dense green foliage that retains a green color in the winter. Another perfect choice for a formal hedge along a walk. A slow grower that only reaches 3’ tall and wide.

*Newly planted Baby Gem Boxwood creating a formal hedge along a walk with Green Mountain Boxwood adding an accent on each end.*

*Baby Gem Boxwood used to frame a bed with room for annuals in the summer and larger summer blooming plants behind to create layers in the landscape.*

Green Tower Boxwood – With a columnar growth habit it is a classic addition to any landscape. Green Tower has dark green leaves with lighter green on the underside and keeps a green color through the winter. Great used as a hedge, for privacy, around a foundation or as a punctuation to accent the landscape. Reaching 9’ tall while only 2’ wide, Green Tower is a great evergreen hedge for tight spaces.

Green Mountain Boxwood – With an upright, naturally cone shaped growth habit very little maintenance is needed for them to add an elegant accent to the landscape. When planted as a hedge, the pyramidal shape of the Green Mountain adds interest to an often-ho-hum hedge. It maintains very good winter color. Green Mountains grow up to 5’ tall and 3’ wide.

*Green Mountain Boxwood used to add a punctuation in the landscape.*

Green Mountain Boxwood growing in their natural round cone shape used to visually separate a walk from a drive. The contrast of the red Nandina and the green Boxwood add interest to the winter landscape.

Green Velvet Boxwood – A great plant for adding year-round structure to the landscape as a stand-alone rounded shrub or as foundation planting. Green Velvet’s dense low growth also makes a good hedge. Foliage remains rich green throughout winter. Green Velvet maintains a 3-4’ rounded growth habit if not pruned.

*Green Velvet Boxwood used as a foundation and allowed to grow in their natural rounded shape.*

*Green Velvet Boxwood along the edge of a drive. Notice the boxwoods are not sheared growing in their natural round habit.*

Dwarf English Boxwood – Small rounded slow grower reaching only 2’ tall and 2’ wide. Great as a small hedge along a pathway or in a container as an accent.

Variegated English Boxwoods – Small dark green leaves with creamy white edges. A slower grower that tops out at 5-6’ tall and wide. Great as a border, hedge, stand-alone accent or foundation planting. Best planted out of the afternoon and evening sun as it prefers a little less sun than green boxwoods.

And that is only 9 of the over 365!

Planting Boxwoods

Boxwoods, like most shrubs, prefer good drainage. They are adaptable to various soils but prefer slightly acidic soils. Good drainage is very important if planted in alkaline soils and they do not do well in heavy, wet soils.

Boxwoods prefer 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day. They can grow in more shade but tend to have a more open, airy growth habit the less sun they receive.

If possible, avoid overly exposed, windy locations. Dry winter winds can cause tip dieback.

Most boxwoods are slow to moderate growers only putting on 3-6” of growth per year. So, when planting a hedge, plant on centers half the mature width. Example: If the mature width of the boxwood variety you selected is 4’, plant on 2’ centers.

When planting stand-alone boxwoods, select areas where there is space for good airflow and the shrub is not crowded by other plants.

Dig a hole twice the size of the pot and slightly deeper. Mix plenty of organic compost with the soil you removed from the hole and put some of the mix back in the hole. Lightly tamp the soil then position the plant with the top of the root ball approximately 1 to 2” above the soil level. Using your soil mixture, halfway fill the area around the plant, tamp it down, add water, then fill the area to the top of the root ball. Water again to remove air pockets in the soil. Level soil with a slight taper away from the top of the root ball. Finish the planting with 2” of a quality organic mulch to hold moisture and cool the soils in the summer and hold warmth in the winter.