Green Gem Boxwood

Let’s face it. Just about every yard could use a little “helping hand”. The Green Gem Boxwood (Buxus x 'Green Gem') is a superior hybrid Boxwood selection that grows into a cute, neat, tidy, uniform little ball without much fuss or muss.

People love this variety because it’s so hardy, with a broad range. You can use it in a zillion ways all around your landscape, too.

Green Gem features the classic, round foliage of Boxwood. No matter what time of year, this fine-textured evergreen is a very nice way to add structure in your garden design.

Try a few in each of your garden beds. Place them on either end, include within the plantings, or line the plantings with a low hedge of them.

Keep them clipped with military precision or let them grow wild and a bit fluffy in their au naturel state. Either way, they’ll become treasured workhorses for you.

Green Gem is a perfect size for foundation plantings under the window. Use it to define your space, gain winter interest and look polished all year long.

With a formal air, the Green Gem Boxwood features oval, dark green leaves with an attractive, glossy finish. The color stays dark all year, perhaps adding an attractive bronze overcast in the coldest months in Zones 4 and 5.

These diminutive evergreens are the perfect accompaniment to many of your plantings and a vibrant, year-round addition to your landscape wherever you place it. Order today!

How to Use Green Gem Boxwood in the Landscape

Green Gem is used much like Wintergreen, Sprinter and Green Velvet Boxwoods. These make an exceptional shrub border, especially with selective pruning.

Boxwood are fantastic foundation plants whether sheared or left grown more naturally. Its globular appearance is also wonderful in a mixed border or at the edge of your perennial bed for some definition.

Green Gem looks fantastic in containers on the patio or more formally on either side of your front door.

Formal sheared hedges are used around the outside of rectangular beds filled with Roses, annuals, small shrubs or perennials. It honestly doesn’t matter what you pair with Green Gem Boxwood.

It will act as a formal picture frame and make nearly any old weedy hodge-podge look better. Contain naturalized or messy areas with a formal hedge of Green Gem Boxwood.

Create geometric lines with plantings of Green Gem. Think curved, straight, serpentine lines. Truly, the design potential is staggering.

For a solid, tightly clipped formal hedge, plant them 2 feet apart on center. Measure from the center of one plant, to the center of the next. For a loose, informal hedge with unclipped plants, plant them 3 feet apart on center. Both ways look fantastic!

Take a look at English Knot Gardens for inspiration. Yes, you can “right size” some of these traditional patterns in modern landscapes.

For a mass planting to cover a larger plot of ground, try an old trick. You’ll create a hedge faster by planting a zig-zagged double row. Keep the new bed weeded and mulch around each plant.

The classic rule of Garden Design is to use 1 evergreen plant for every 2 deciduous plants. Evergreen plants give structure to the garden. They also provide green interest all through the winter.

#ProPlantTips for Care

Green Gem will grow in most well-drained soils in full sun or partial shade. Improve the soil over time by using mulched wood chips over the root system. Add a yearly application to protect your landscaping investment. You'll enjoy the polished look and the way a fresh layer of mulch ties your plantings together.

Give your plants a moderate amount of water on a regular basis. Watering is especially important in the first year. Once it’s established in your soil, it can handle an occasional dry spell, but apply supplemental water if you don’t receive adequate rainfall.

Be sure to provide good water in the fall before the cold winter season sets in. Well-hydrated evergreen foliage can withstand winter winds with less damage.

If you can, find Green Gem a sheltered location to further protects it in winter from strong winds and full sun. Really though, this variety is quite hardy.

It has no serious disease or pest problems. Both deer and rabbits tend to leave it alone. For more formal applications, prune right after the spring flush of new growth into the shape you want. You may see a secondary flush of growth later in the summer, but please only give a little trim this late in the season.

This hybrid Boxwood was developed as part of the Green Series by Sheridan Nurseries of Ontario in Canada. You know it will tolerate cold far better than other varieties of Buxus sempervirens.

In extreme cold, the green foliage may have a slight bronze overcast in winter. Take time to study it, as we think it’s a color that harmonizes beautifully with the tones of the cold season. It also plays off with other evergreen species you may have in your yard. There is nothing wrong with bronzing!

If you're looking for a tiny evergreen that welcomes your attention but doesn't demand it, Green Gem Boxwood is for you. Order enough to complete your project today, it’s a wonderful choice.