Common boxwood
Buxus sempervirens · Buxaceae Popular
The classic boxwood of old gardens: a large, billowing, dark evergreen that can be clipped into hedges and shapes or left to grow into a small tree over many decades.
- Size
- 10 ft tall, 10 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 common boxwood
The planner designed this bed around common boxwood when this page was made: a 22 × 10 ft (6.7 × 3.0 m) formal bed in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why common boxwood stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Common boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 2 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 57, yellow
- 3 Golden ragwort × 34, yellow
- 4 Rose turtlehead × 6, pink
- 5 Horned violet × 33, purple
- 6 Virginia bluebells × 22, blue
- 7 Oriental lily 'Casa Blanca' × 6, white
- 8 Oriental lily × 6, white
- 9 Easter lily × 4, white
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 10 ft it is seen over golden ragwort (20 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 16 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: 169 of the 169 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. Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' repeats along the bed to tie it together. Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' is the plant there is most of: 57 of the 169.
The planner's own design check: 5 Excellent, 9 Good, 3 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where common boxwood goes in a border
At 10 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ 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.
Left alone, it becomes a great soft cloud of dark green. It is slow, so buy the size you need. Boxwood blight has become a serious disease; ask for resistant varieties.
- Tall hedges and topiary
- Evergreen background for flowers
- Formal structure
What to plant with common boxwood
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Peony: adds the flowers, late May to late June; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Hosta: bold leaves against its fine ones; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Lenten rose: adds the flowers, late March to early May; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Choosing between it and a look-alike? Common boxwood vs Inkberry and Common boxwood vs Japanese holly 'Soft Touch'.
Questions about common boxwood
Does common boxwood need sun or shade?
Common boxwood 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. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does common boxwood 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 common boxwood be planted?
6½ ft (200 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 ft (300 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 ft (300 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many common boxwood plants do I need?
Usually one. At 6½ ft (200 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 6½ ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is common boxwood 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 common boxwood?
These come closest to doing what common boxwood does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Burkwood osmanthus: the same job in a bed; 20 in shorter, flowers mid April to early May.
- Sawara cypress 'Boulevard': the same job in a bed; 2½ ft narrower, wants moist soil.
- Yellow twig dogwood: the same job in a bed; 3½ ft shorter, 8 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat common boxwood?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does common boxwood look like in winter?
Common boxwood 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.
More Buxus
- Boxwood 'Green Gem' Buxus 'Green Gem'
- Boxwood 'Green Mountain' Buxus 'Green Mountain'
- Boxwood 'Green Velvet' Buxus 'Green Velvet'
- 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
- 10 ft (300 cm) tall, 10 ft (300 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6½ ft (200 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- 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
- Comes from
- Europe to N. Iran, N. Africa
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought
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.