We are looking at planting out a border in Box Hedge - 12 metres long. The intention of having grow to about 1 metre high and 400 to 500 mm thick. Would like it trimmed straight on both sides and top. We are in Wellington and about 1km from Cook Strait. Buxus variety seems to be popular but i see there are a number of different types - Sempervirens and Green Gem seem common. Is one faster growing than the other and any pros and cons with either. ? Would like something that grows reasonably fast in order to fill up the space.
strathview,
Oct 24, 8:54am
We are not far from Foveaux Strait. We have Sempervirens growing and when we get salt laden winds (most of the time) it gets badly burnt. It is slow growing although it has grown surprisingly well considering. We have watered it and put fertiliser on it a couple of times through the growing season. Considering we have struggled to get much besides some tough hardy natives to grow the box is doing quite well. Our hebes have done much better than the box and are way easier and quicker to grow. Just stay away from the variegated varieties. Looking to plant more hebes as hedging.
woody89,
Oct 24, 5:46pm
With box blight becoming prevalent & then the possibility of salt burn where you live, wouldn't you consider something else? Particularly as there are many faster growing alternatives?
morpet,
Oct 24, 8:06pm
Am happy to consider any alternatives. Can anyone assist in naming something similar. ?
samanya,
Oct 24, 11:09pm
Lonicera ?
iluvmuse,
Oct 25, 3:43am
do we have box blight in NZ yet?
annies3,
Oct 25, 4:04am
We have several lonicera hedges here they are great and you can trim them to any size or shape you want, we have one which is only about 30mm tall and another which is close to 149cm just realise that you need to trim frequently especially when young to encourage bushy growth, we are in view of the sea here and can hear it so not far as the crow flies. We grew all of ours from one single original cutting.
jbsouthland,
Oct 25, 5:30am
I have lonicera hedges with a few box here in our country garden.The reason being I am impatient and wanting rapid growth to add formality in the garden areas . They are perhaps not as attractive as box but grow incredibly quick . Also great for topiary . I think a mix is of both in a garden looks attractive . A tip for any hedge is to tuck a few extra plants around in case of replacement for gaps etc . Agree the variegated box is slower growing .
dibble35,
Oct 25, 5:42am
Its been here for years, was making the rounds when i was living in Auckland and that was about '98. Lady i know up here in Whangarei is currently looking at pulling out all her extensive box hedging as its just constantly getting hammered with box blight - and she really looks after her buxus, has a contract sprayer for them.
dibble35,
Oct 25, 5:43am
How about corokia - tough little native that trims well, or Lonicera as others have suggested, maybe teucrium if you like the silvery foliage. Some of the smaller growing coprosmas would work well to.
morpet,
Oct 25, 8:54am
Thanks for the awesome suggestions. I will look into other possible options. . one other suggested is Westringia. Any opinions on this as a choice. ?
maclad,
Oct 26, 1:34am
I think Westringia makes a great hedge as long as it is trimmed so it does not go woody.
samanya,
Oct 26, 4:59am
Teucrium is Ok, if you have the time to trim it every month or so . grows like crazy, but a plus is that bees like it when it's flowering.
dollydot,
Oct 31, 3:27am
We're about to plant a Westringia hedge after removing 20 year old shrubs. We're about 30 mins north of Wellington an have seen Westringias do well in our suburb. We're planting the compact white flowered one after finding the larger mauve flower ones need more trimming than we were able to do so they became leggy. We also have box hedging which does well but yes it is slow growing and does get some spider blight but on the whole looks neat and formal. Was talking to Palmers staff about Lonicera, they said it needs pruning about 6 times a year so too fast growing for us but great if you want a quickly established hedge and can keep up the maintenance. I agree Coprosmas can be great hedges also.
rita197,
Feb 24, 4:01am
Corokia is the best option. I use the Corokia 'frosted chocolate' variety often in my landscape design work. It has a good density. It is tough, doesn't get box blight, grows quickly, requires little trimming. Westringia gets leggy quickly, Teucrium and Lonicers need trimming far too often.
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