Boxwood Shrubs
Thinking about putting up some boundaries around your gardens, the yard or the driveway? The boxwood is a wonderful shrub that will create a border, that will grow in to a fence-like structure that is both great looking and functional. When you plant the boxwood, you are going to be planting a smaller bush that will grow over the years to an exciting shrub that will add texture and character to your landscape.

Posted Wednesday, April 5, 2006

The boxwood shrub is a very dense, thick bush that has very small, almost tiny and shiny leaves. The small leaves are thick on every branch and when the shrub grows taller, it is very much like a screen that will keep others from peeking in.

The boxwood that you purchase from your local home centers could be anywhere from six inches to two feet tall, but you have to remember that in order to prevent stress on the bush, you need to stick to smaller bushes. The bigger the bush, the more shock you have in moving and planting it.

The boxwood is known by several different names, which including box bush, English shrub, European boxwood, common boxwood and pale boxwood. The proper name for the boxwood is buxus sempervirens. The boxwood is very popular because of its ability to be shaped, cut and pruned in the garden. Working with a boxwood plant or several plants, you could shape out a dog, a flower outline, or any shape to express the theme of your landscape.

The boxwood, over time, could grow to be anywhere from eight to ten feet tall with a spread just as far. The boxwood will remain small, for example, a two by two foot shrub, if you were to continually keep it trimmed, shaped and container-grown. The boxwood is going to grow up and out though if you let it.

This shrub grows best in grow zones six through ten, anywhere in the full sun or partial shade. The leaves on this shrub appear in the mid to late spring months as the weather begins to warm up a bit. The buds then produce a very thick display of leaves for your entire summer. The boxwood is an evergreen shrub, but not in the way that you might think of. This is a shrub that prefers a little acid in the soil where it grows. Putting coffee grounds on the soil around the shrub just once or twice a year gives the boxwood the real growing boost that it needs for showing off as it grows healthy and strong.