Identification please

try this time - I didn't sign in as a member this time - good luck!
http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantselector/plantdetail.aspx?plantid=43001

 

It is box, after planting 3,500 you get to know it very well.

It is the larger variety of box.

 

Hmm - that link didn't work either so I just searched from the RHS website. Some very good ideas - I am now thinking it's a rounded leaf box like Buxus microphylla or Buxus sempervirens L. 'Hollandia'. It seems to match all the qualifications and the leaves are the right shape! :D

Thanks to everyone who pushed me in the right direction! :D :D :D

Now the question is, how do I move it!?

 

Box grows slowly. so I would think this one is 15-20 years old, so well established, but now is the time to move it if you are going to, before it starts new growth [if soil thaws soon!]
I found this:

"THIS is a good time to move shrubs that are growing in the wrong place or those that have outgrown their position. Aim to lift established plants with as large a root-ball as possible. Prepare the soil in the new planting hole well, digging compost deeply into it. Firm the soil around the transplanted shrub, and provide a stake for support if required. Water in well and mulch with composted bark chips or well-rotted garden compost. It may be necessary to prune out a few shoots from very large transplanted shrubs, as the damaged root system may not be able to support them."

Lots of digging I think!

 

I'm siding with the Boxers although I'm not that well up on shrubs.

 

Hi D_I_H_G

DEFINATELY BOX
Buxus balearica.

 

Just out of intrest, box can get pretty big over the years, I' ve got my eye on a couple at least 20ft high, which are in danger of being cut down.
Its one of the hardest timbers around, very close grained and dense, traditionally used for chisel handles amongst other things. :D

 

and boxes!

 

And all good Joiners have box wood rulers :D

 

(Yes, it's b****y lovely to prune down an overgrown specimen - Boxwood rules! :( :rolleyes: )
It's definitely Buxus! - (I don't think its B. microphylla, & I think B. balearica has leaves that are more ovate)- there are around 70 species of box (most common = B. microphylla, B. sempervirens) & hundreds of cultivars & varieties. I think it might be B. sempervirens "Rotundifolia" or a varient of B. sempervirens "Suffruticosa". Move it now or preferably when the weather is a bit warmer (hard frosty cold ground is going to make it unhappy - it won't be able to drink if the water freezes!)- but don't prune it now - & make sure the root ball is as large as you can manage - it needs lots & lots of water on transplanting, I'd leave it till we're getting fewer frosts.
Nice big Fatsia you have there too

 

Enormous fatsia - needs a new home, but not for a while yet. I've never thought much of box, but I love this shurb so much - it's like nothing I've ever seen before. I never realised there were so many cultivars!!

I will be doing fencing this weekend, so it may stay in its home for a week or two more yet - should be enough time for a thaw (I hope - brr! )

 

Pete 2255, if the box trees get cut down, the wood is worth saving, My brother in law is an ornamental wood turner and box is greatly in demand amongst members of his society, because as you say it is so close grained it turns beautifully. As it grows so slowly there don't seem to be many trees around now. Just near me there is an old path lined with Box trees in various stages of decay, some are more than 20' high and with girths of around 12".
There is a box hedge in my garden, about 5' high and 20' long , it has a preservation order and I'm told it's older than the cottages we live in, which are 200 yrs old..

 

Well, mine's not quite 200 years old, but it's certainly been there since I was a kid! :D

My problem now is where to put to show it off to the full - it's not really something you can put in middle of a border (well, not that I can see - I'm sure others feel differently!)

 

I know my other half would love some of the wood, he makes banjos!

 

If they get cut down, and I'm not around, the chances are the timber will get either burnt or dumped by the council. :(