English box or Japanese box? For most Australian gardens outside the cool south, this is the one to plant. Buxus microphylla stands up to heat and humidity far better than Buxus sempervirens, fills in a little quicker, and carries slightly larger, rounder, brighter green leaves. English box is darker, tighter and more strongly scented, and it still wins for a fine low parterre in a cold climate. Growth is slow and very dense, which is exactly what makes it clip so cleanly into hedges, balls, cones and low borders. Two or three light shears a year beats one hard cut, and avoid clipping in the heat of a midsummer afternoon because the cut leaf edges scorch. Watch for box psyllid, which cups and curls the new spring tips into small cabbages, and for box blight where plants are crowded and still air sits inside the hedge. Keep the water up: drought stress browns a box hedge far more often than cold does. Some winter bronzing in exposed positions is normal and greens up again in spring.Choosing a sizeThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 140mm up to 300mm, priced from $16.95 to $88.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to hedging plants for Australian conditions.
