Dwarf Box Hedge Plants

Buxus Sempervirens Suffruticosa Hedging

Delivered by Mail Order Direct from our Nursery with a Year Guarantee

Dwarf Box, Buxus sempervirens Suffruticosa, is a small, slow growing evergreen shrub that is perfect for low, ornamental hedging, usually along the edge of a flower bed or in a decorative parterre. It has lush, densely packed, bright leaves that clip neatly and suit topiary. Our box plants are grown outdoors to keep them hardy and have been clipped for extra bushiness.
Dwarf Box grows about 2-3cms per year and, after 30 odd years, it can reach about 1 metre high.
Dwarf Box is good for hedges under 50cm high; we recommend using the more vigorous Common Box for edging and topiary projects over 50cm tall.

Dwarf Box bushes are only delivered pot-grown, year round.

View our selection of evergreen hedging or see our full range of hedging plants.

Choosing a size: When you are ordering Dwarf Box plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use the smaller, 15-20cm tall plants. They are cheaper than large plants and they will establish well in poor conditions. Use larger plants if you want a taller hedge quickly or if you want to clip them as topiary.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Dwarf Box hedge:

Plant Dwarf Box hedging at about 7 plants per metre, 14.3 cm apart. You can also get good results with planting at 6 per metre and if you plant them at 8 per metre, you will get a thick hedge more quickly.

General description of Dwarf Box plants:

They are pretty much the same as Common Box, apart from their slower growth. The leaves are slightly brighter green. Box is one of the few plants that actually prefers growing in partial shade over full sun. It will tolerate any well drained soil and can grow near the sea.
Dwarf box is most commonly used for precisely clipped, knee-high decorative borders; it is sometime called Edging Box. It also looks good in a pot, trimmed into a neat geometric shape.
Dwarf Box plants do flower but, as there are no petals, you will probably only notice the bees that it attracts. Rabbits and deer do not eat box.

Did You Know?

Box is a native plant and the Suffruticosa cultivar was bred in 1753. It was given an RHS Award of Garden Merit in 2002.

Growing Dwarf Box plants:
Dwarf Box will grow well in any well drained soil. It is very shade tolerant and suitable for exposed locations near the sea.
It will not grow well if the site is too damp, especially during winter.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you plant a hedge several months in advance, especially if the soil is poor or compacted. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and Neudorff WeedFree Plus weed-killer is the best way to remove them. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades. If your soil is rich, you don't have to dig it over, but killing all the weeds is still necessary.

Watch our video on how to plant a garden hedge for full details. The plants in this video are delivered pot-grown, but planting out bareroot stock is essentially the same.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Neudorff WeedFree Plus.
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.