Boxwood 'Green Velvet'
Buxus 'Green Velvet' · Buxaceae Popular
A dense, naturally rounded evergreen that gives a bed year-round structure. It takes clipping well and keeps its green colour through winter.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around boxwood 'Green Velvet'
The planner designed this bed around boxwood 'Green Velvet' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) formal bed in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why boxwood 'Green Velvet' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Boxwood 'Green Velvet' × 1, dark green leaves
- 2 Leadwort × 18, blue
- 3 Eastern bee balm × 6, pink
- 4 Easter lily × 4, white
- 5 Autumn crocus × 6, lavender
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- The only fine leaves here. The rest are medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
Why here
- At the back. At 3 ft it is seen over leadwort (10 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 18 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as a formal bed: 35 of the 35 plants (100%) are mirrored across the middle of the bed: each stands on the middle line or has a twin of its own kind opposite it. Blue, pink, lavender and white make a cool, restful scheme. Autumn crocus stands beside leadwort, a proven pairing.
The planner's own design check: 7 Excellent, 9 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where boxwood 'Green Velvet' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
The classic English device: a firm, clipped evergreen shape set among loose, billowing perennials. The contrast makes both look better, and the box carries the bed through winter. One, or a repeated few, is enough.
- Evergreen structure and winter shape
- A clipped ball or low hedge among loose perennials
- A calm green foil for flowers
What to plant with boxwood 'Green Velvet'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': adds the flowers, mid May to mid September; spires rising out of its mound.
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne': adds the flowers, early June to early October; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Peony: adds the flowers, late May to late June.
Questions about boxwood 'Green Velvet'
Does boxwood 'Green Velvet' need sun or shade?
Boxwood 'Green Velvet' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does boxwood 'Green Velvet' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should boxwood 'Green Velvet' be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many boxwood 'Green Velvet' plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, planted singly: it is the bed's structure, and everything else is arranged around it.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is boxwood 'Green Velvet' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. All parts cause vomiting and diarrhoea if eaten, and the sap can irritate skin.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like boxwood 'Green Velvet'?
These come closest to doing what boxwood 'Green Velvet' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Arborvitae 'Hetz Midget': the same job in a bed and the same size; wants moist soil.
- Box honeysuckle 'Baggesen's Gold': the same job in a bed; belongs at the back, not in the middle, 12 in taller.
- Mock orange 'Miniature Snowflake': the same job in a bed; 6 in narrower, flowers early June to late June.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What does boxwood 'Green Velvet' look like in winter?
Boxwood 'Green Velvet' keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone. It is grown for evergreen structure and winter shape as well.
More Buxus
- Boxwood 'Green Gem' Buxus 'Green Gem'
- Boxwood 'Green Mountain' Buxus 'Green Mountain'
- Common boxwood Buxus sempervirens
- Dwarf English boxwood Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa'
- Korean boxwood 'Wintergreen' Buxus sinica var. insularis 'Wintergreen'
- Littleleaf boxwood 'Winter Gem' Buxus microphylla var. japonica 'Winter Gem'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Buxaceae
Checked against NC State Extension and ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.