Box Hedging

Hi Folks,
Looking for a wee bit of input from you guys to help me decide a surrounding for my garden. I have dug out some large borders and looking to fill with plants to give the cottage garden effect. I am looking for an evergreen surround though and was thinking of 4-6ft Box hedging. B & Q are selling a 6 plant pack for �£4. Was thinking of this as I need roughly 8metres cover in the front and possible more in the back.
Does box hedging look good?

 

Box, Common (Buxus sempervirens)

hi moonshine, just an idea
Box (Buxus sempervirens)
Box is a slow growing hardy native evergreen hedging plant with fragrant foliage. Box flowers are yellow and insignificant and appear in March and April depending on location. The very dense growth habit and small, glossy dark green leaves of Common Box make it ideal for low formal hedging and topiary. Along with Yew, Privet and Laurel, Box is the most shade tolerant of the hedge plants. It actually prefers partial shade and Box hedging does well in deep shade.

Box wood is hard, close grained, bright yellow and polishes well so it is often used for inlay work. Today Box is used to make the best mallet heads, and most of us can remember yellow box wood school rulers. If you are plagued with deer, Box is not immune to damage, but they tend ot leave it to last.

There is little mythology attached to Box, although it is a sacred plant in Georgia where Box twigs are taken to church on Palm Sunday to bring protection to the home and good luck to the family. The plant is poisonous to humans (don't worry, Box tastes disgusting) and it is used in homeopathy in treatments for epilepsy and malaria.

Box can (after many years) produce a magnificent large hedge, but unless you are extremely patient it is best used for hedging that is between 30cm and 80 cms tall. It should be planted at 5 per metre in a single row. The Box in the trough (see the Images tab below) were 30/40cms hedging plants photographed immediately after planting. Box hedging is traditionally clipped on on Derby Day (although we think that is 2 weeks too late).

Because it grows so slowly, Buxus sempervirens is also excellent as potted or ground grown topiary. The best soils for box are chalky but good Box hedges will grow anywhere that is well drained.

 

Thanks for that inter. Would like to use evergreen shrubs as outside trim also, I just am not sure at this time. Looking for a bit of height in the garden also and looking at shrub/hedge backing to a foreground of steadily rising plants.

 

Moonshine as Ste has already said Box takes a very long time to grow so much so you might have changed your gardening design before the box is even half way where you want it! :eek:

Those box deals are a really good and cheap deal from B&Q I brought some packs myself last year and they are doing well ....although it still has to grow an awful lot more to get the right look.

There are other evergreen plants you could use for edging. Clipped lavender is another traditional plant used for this task but unlike box you don't have to wait so long for the end result, sometimes you can get the right effect within one season or so and also you get the lovely fragrance from the plant too which is an extra bonus!Hel.xxx.