Box is the plant that made the English formal garden and is currently being taken apart by two things: box blight, a fungus that strips whole plants from the base, and the box tree caterpillar, which arrived in the south east and now reaches nearly everywhere.
Both are manageable, and both are made worse by the same habits — clipping in humid weather, watering over the top of the plant, and letting the inside of a hedge stay damp and airless. If you are planting new, it is worth asking honestly whether Ilex crenata or Euonymus would do the same job.
Care
Notably shade-tolerant for a plant so often clipped into formal, sun-exposed shapes.
Once established.
Well-drained soil of most types, including chalky/alkaline ground.
Clip 1-2 times through the growing season (traditionally around the longest day and again in late summer); avoid clipping in hot, sunny weather, which can scorch the freshly cut edges.
A balanced feed in spring and a second after the main clip — a clipped box hedge is being asked to regrow repeatedly and starves visibly, going yellow-green and thin, without it. Feed the soil with a mulch too, since box is shallow-rooted.
Semi-ripe cuttings in late summer: the clippings themselves are the material, and 10cm pieces pushed into gritty compost in a shaded frame root over winter. Slow but almost free, which matters when a hedge needs dozens of plants.
Month by month
Months change with the climate: in southern Italy tomatoes go out two months earlier than in England.
- MarchLight feed as growth resumes. how ›
- JuneMain clip of the year, traditionally timed around midsummer. how ›
- AugustSecond, lighter clip if a very crisp shape is wanted. how ›
Months based on climate: UK. Your choice stays on this device.
- MarchLight feed as growth resumes. how ›
- JuneMain clip of the year, traditionally timed around midsummer. how ›
- AugustSecond, lighter clip if a very crisp shape is wanted. how ›
Months based on climate: Northern Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
Common problems
How to spot it. Brown patches and bare dieback in humid, still conditions.
What to do. Improve airflow, avoid overhead watering, remove and dispose of affected material, disinfect tools between plants.
How to spot it. Webbing and rapid defoliation.
What to do. Check regularly through the growing season, remove by hand, consider pheromone traps.
How to spot it. Orange pustules on leaves, less serious than blight.
What to do. Remove affected leaves.
Popular varieties
Questions
Box: is it hardy?
H6: Hardy in the vast majority of UK gardens. It survives down to −20 °C.
Can it grow in a pot?
A classic choice for clipped topiary in pots.
Box: when do you prune it?
Clip 1-2 times through the growing season (traditionally around the longest day and again in late summer); avoid clipping in hot, sunny weather, which can scorch the freshly cut edges. In the calendar for UK, pruning falls in June, August.
When do you feed it?
A balanced feed in spring and a second after the main clip — a clipped box hedge is being asked to regrow repeatedly and starves visibly, going yellow-green and thin, without it. Feed the soil with a mulch too, since box is shallow-rooted. Feeding months, UK: April, June.