Shrub · North Texas care guide
Buxus microphylla var. japonica
Nursery Pro tip: The classic clipped hedge. Wintergreen and Baby Gem varieties stay tighter.
The classic clipped evergreen: small, dense, bright green leaves on a slow 3–6 ft mound that takes shearing better than anything else we sell. Japanese boxwood handles our heat and alkaline soil far better than the English and American types people bring in from up north.
Full sun to shade — it's one of the few shrubs that's genuinely happy in either. Wants drainage above all; it will not live in a bed that stays soggy. Space 2–3 ft apart for a solid hedge, 18 in for a tight low border.
Fall or spring. Hole twice the width of the pot, ball at grade or an inch high, native soil, Root Stimulator, 2–3 inches of mulch. Never plant it deep — buried crowns are the usual cause of a boxwood that dies one plant at a time.
Twice a week the first month, weekly the first summer, then every week or two in the heat. Steady moisture, never standing water.
A light spring feeding with a shrub fertilizer. Too much nitrogen gives soft growth that scorches in July.
Shear in late spring after the new flush, and again in midsummer if you want it crisp. Stop by early September so late growth hardens before frost. Thin a few interior branches each year so light and air reach the middle.
Root rot in wet beds and leafminer or mite damage in stressed plants. Winter bronzing on the sun side is cosmetic and greens up in spring. Boxwood blight is rare here — don't shear when the foliage is wet.
Formal edging, knot gardens, and foundation beds with Japanese maple, encore azalea, liriope and mondo grass.
Written for Rockwall's black clay, heat and winters by the Landscape Source team. Every yard is different — bring a photo by, or ask LS-Ai, and we'll tailor it to your spot.