One of the most widely planted evergreen shrubs, buxus, or box as it’s commonly known, is so popular because it tolerates shade, drought, urban pollution and tough growing conditions.

With shiny green foliage and 365 cultivars, box is a shrub that can solve many problems. It can be shaped into an evergreen hedge, clipped into topiaries, or planted singly to create a visual focal point in a garden. For centuries box has been the preferred choice in formal European gardens because of its tidy shape and small, well-shaped leaves.

We have a constant stock of box available at the nursery, the following being some of the most popular options.

Common box or Buxus Sempervirens makes a fabulous formal hedge forming a dense, evergreen screen of small, rounded, lustrous, dark green leaves. One of our favourite plants in our own garden designs, it’s an excellent backdrop for traditional herbaceous borders. Box is happy growing in a sunny spot but the combination of dry soil and full sun may encourage poor growth and leaf scorching.

Box Balls & Cones are a cornerstone of lots of gardens, the use of box balls and cones are a great way to keep structure and shape in the garden all year round. As designers we would use these staples in lots of our projects, for shape & texture and they look fantastic at corners of box hedging or to mark an entrance, start or end of the hedge.

Buxus ‘Faulkner’ is a compact and bushy type of Box with the most eye catching glossy deep green foliage. Plant them as hedging, topiary or even as ground cover and they will always give a first class performance, looking great all year with hardly any maintenance. It’s a tougher variety than the common box and considered to be the most resistant to box blight.

Box blight

Box does get a bit of a bad rep as it can get box blight which is both irritating and unsightly but we have help at hand. Box Blight is an air borne fungus disease that specifically attacks box. Box blight doesn’t kill roots, so diseased plants don’t necessarily have to be dug out. The fungus survives in infected leaves, stems and residues.

Topbuxus Health-Mix is a revolutionary natural tonic for keeping your box bushes blight free, healthy and strong. It’s important that boxwood can absorb as much sulphur, magnesium, calcium and kali at the right times of the year. In addition, the correct NPK-proportion is essential. The boxwood needs the right amount of ‘food’ when the new leaves are coming. Topbuxus grow is able to provide this. It’s a fertiliser that will be absorbed very quickly by the plants, which makes it able to notice the results fast. Topbuxus grow keeps your boxwood healthy, without yellow leaves. Hygienic ground cover – applying a layer of Topbuxus Carpet underneath and around your boxwood creates a hygienically clean environment around the plants in which diseases such as box blight are less likely to develop. When used in combination with Topbuxus Health-Mix box blight doesn’t stand a chance in your garden!

There is nothing quite like box. As any gardener will know they are one of the most popular plants. But not only in the country side, formal topiary and immaculately clipped hedges are very popular in towns and city spaces all over Ireland where a quality hedge is desired. With these products you can now enjoy your Buxus without the worry of box blight.