Boxwoods for Every Landscape

Southerners love boxwoods. They greet our guests at the door and provide an element of delight and surprise when clipped and trained into topiaries and parterres. Elegant when used alone and sublime as companion plants, they offer amazing versatility in any garden. Plus, deer don't usually eat them.

The secret to working with these fine-textured evergreens is choosing the best selection to fit your vision and growing conditions. Some grow as tall as a tree and just as wide, while others hug the ground. Find out more about our top picks that are suitable for the South.

One of the largest boxwoods, an American boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) can grow to more than 15 feet tall and wide, and it's long-lived.

The round-tipped, glossy, dark green leaves of Japanese Boxwood (B. microphylla japonica) may take on a bronze cast in cold winters when exposed to southwestern sun. It tolerates heat, humidity, and nematodes, making it the best boxwood for the Coastal South, though it does well throughout the South.

A slow-growing species from Japan, Littleleaf (B. microphylla) is cold hardy and can be used in the Upper, Middle, Lower, and Coastal South.

An excellent choice for low hedges or edging, Korean boxwood tolerates severe winters, making it an especially good choice for the Upper South.

A pretty row of boxwoods stands at attention, ready to lead guests to the door. These cold-hardy Canadian-bred hybrid boxwoods feature plants with rich, green foliage and an attractive shape.

An elegant potager (kitchen garden) with an intricate knot of clipped boxwoods in its center acts as a focal point for the garden. At the end of this terrace rests a paved sitting area surrounding a fire pit. What better place to sip a glass of wine as the amber light from the setting sun ignites the riverside trees?

Massive boxwoods more than 100 years old act as the backbone to this breathtaking garden, while a geometric boxwood parterre lines the lower terrace.

See more of this Trim & Tidy Virginia Boxwood Garden

Rows of clipped English boxwoods, protected from hot afternoon sun, soften straight lines in this small front yard garden.

See more of this Small Space Garden

A 100-foot-long pea gravel walk exits the pool circle to extend this garden's axis from the house. Linear plantings of boxwoods along the path reveal a Greek key motif.

Tour this Classical Virginia Garden

A sloping side lawn offered the ideal place for a garden between a new porch and an arbor, creating intimate and shaded beauty without burdensome maintenance.

See more of this All-Green Garden Design

American boxwoods planted in the 19th century flank the sides of this leisurely allée.

See more of this All-Green Garden Design

English boxwoods, planted to follow the curve of the walk, and clipped 'Oakland' hollies, which anchor each corner, offer a nod to the traditional forms found in Colonial gardens.

See more of this Atlanta Cottage Garden

This Atlanta garden combines lip-smacking produce with eye-popping color for the perfect escape to relax and entertain. Clipped 'Nellie R. Stevens' hollies and boxwoods form the walls, while a trio of large rolled-rim pots containing boxwood topiaries, peppers, and herbs anchors the edible garden.

See more of this Suburban Kitchen Garden

Boxwood’s willingness to be clipped, shaped, and trained makes it the perfect candidate for a classic topiary.

10 Spectacular Topiary Designs

A double row of Korean boxwoods rings the center fountain. A corridor of clipped ironwood trees (Carpinus caroliniana) and American boxwoods creates the outer wall of this semicircular garden.

See more of this Classic Four-Season Garden

This impactful front yard garden features a tailored parterre of boxwoods and paths of antique bricks.

See more of this Colonial Williamsburg Style Cottage

Boxwoods and a planter filled with sedum compose a simple palette. A purple clematis vine trained upon a tuteur on the right adds a dash of color.

See more of this Dream Garden