How to grow common boxwood
Buxus sempervirens
When to plant common boxwood
Plant this broadleaf evergreen in spring or early fall, when soil is warm enough for root growth but the plant is not under summer heat stress. Extension guidance rates fall (early enough for roots to establish before the ground freezes) and spring as the two best planting windows for shrubs.
Common Boxwood is timed by season rather than your frost dates, so the planting calendar does not generate ZIP-specific dates for it. Check the cited sources below to fine-tune for your area.
Growing conditions
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Spacing
- 60 to 180 in apart
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 6 to 8
Common problems
- boxwood blight
- boxwood leafminer
- root rot in wet soil
- winter bronzing
Sources
- North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox (NC State Extension): Buxus sempervirens (Common Boxwood, European Box)
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center: Planting Shrubs Correctly (HGIC 1052)
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