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lori_elf

Good dwarf bowood for mid-atlantic

lori_elf z6b MD
19 years ago

I'm designing an herb/potager garden area for my house in which I would like to use boxwood as an edging plant. I love the color and traditional smell of buxus sempervirens, but that gets to be 6x6' tall eventually and this is a small space where I want the edging plant hedge to be no more than 18"-24" in height and width.

What is a good dwarf variety that can easily be maintained at this height and not too subject to browning out?

What is a good spacing distance to plant them? Is 18" apart too wide?

Comments (6)

  • swifty_mcgee
    19 years ago

    What is "eventually"? Box are by nature slow growers?

  • aka_peggy
    19 years ago

    I had...I believe...little gem. The leaves were tiny and the plant supposedly grew about 1/2" per yr. It died after a couple of yrs for some unknown reason and I don't think it grew at all. I love em but they are terrible slow growers.

    I'm growing candytuft and santolina which is sometimes pictured growing with boxwoods in a potager. This was my 1st yr growing it so I don't know much about it yet.

  • vladpup
    19 years ago

    G'Day!
    - If you can't find a boxwood of the right dimenisons, would you want to consider rosemary? Boxwood is indeed a very traditinal edging, but rosemary might be appropriate for an herb garden. i'm asuming you want an evergreen, woody plant. Lavander also makes a great edging for herb gardens, but might not be thick enough to give the effect you want - and it can be finicky with our humidity. (my being a big fan of rosemary has nothing to do with this, right?)
    - Just a thought!
    - Happy gardening,
    -vlad

  • johnfromperrycopa
    19 years ago

    The true dwarf form I believe is named suffricosa or something close to that spelling. I have about 14 of them spaced about 3 foot on center at the top of a retaining wall and they are doing nicely with a north eastern exposure. They are about 8 years old and still only about 1 foot tall and perhaps 10 inches wide and easily maintained. I can find the exact spelling of the variety, but if you enter Buxus in any search engine or garden web search, you should see this variety listed.

  • johnfromperrycopa
    19 years ago

    I think the variety is suffruticosa..

  • mary11
    19 years ago

    Germander is another option. Is a perennial/shrub herb, looks like boxwood, stays short, does not have to be replaced every few years and is very hardy in Baltimore. It prunes easily into the short little hedge I think you want, like to a foot or less (expatriate, now in CA). Check out your herb books, you will see it.