“A drab, malodorous and not especially useful shrub” – Richard Mabey, ‘Flora Britannica‘.

Box, Buxus sempervirens, is a slow-growing evergreen shrub or small tree. It is often used as an edging for garden beds and borders, when it is clipped to no more than a foot (30cm) high. But it is capable of growing into a tree and can reach at least 30 feet (nine metres) tall, with a trunk up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in diameter. Its evergreen habit makes it a popular choice in churchyards and cemeteries and Earlham Cemetery in Norwich has several specimens, the largest next to the avenue of Lime Trees leading into the Cemetery from the Dereham Road gate.

Box, Buxus sempervirens, in Earlham Cemetery, Norwich.

Box is a British native, a member of the family Buxaceae, which also contains Sarcococca (Sweet Box) and Pachysandra (Japanese Spurge), both of which are useful garden evergreens.

In the wild, Box grows on limestone and chalk in the south of England, often on steep slopes, and is often found associated with beech. It is now found in many parts of the British mainland, as well as in parts of Ireland, as it has been widely planted. British places named after Box include the famous Box Hill on the North Downs in Surrey, which is our largest area of native Box woodland. Other places include Bixley near Norwich (‘Box woods’), Bexhill and Bexley in Kent, Bix in Oxfordshire and Bexington (‘settlement amongst Box’) in Dorset. However, Boxtead Green in Essex is probably from Boc-hamstede (‘homestead amongst beeches’) and Boxworth in Cambridgeshire may be from Bucc’s worth (‘Bucc’s enclosure’). Further afield, Box occurs in open dry montane scrub, particularly in the Mediterranean region and has been naturalised in parts of North America.

Box wood is yellow, very hard and fine grained. It is the wood of choice for wood engraving. (One of Thomas Bewick’s wood engraving blocks was still sound after 900,000 printings.) It is ideal for small wood turning products, such as chessmen and small pulley blocks, clarinets, tool handles and marquetry. As the name implies, it also makes excellent small boxes.

Box foliage has a distinctive smell, not unlike a tom cat’s urine and my mother-in-law cut down a Box bush near her front door because she didn’t like the smell, especially on a hot sunny day. I don’t mind it – it reminds me of a Box that grew in the garden we had in Scotland when I was a child.

Box flowers in early spring. The flowers are inconspicuous and greenish-yellow, with no petals, and are insect pollinated. They are popular with Hoverflies, and in Earlham Cemetery, Norfolk Hoverfly Recorder Stuart Paston has recorded at least seven species visiting the flowers.

Topiary Box ‘Bee’, Helmingham Hall, Suffolk

The Box Bug, Gonocerus acuteangulatus, is a charismatic insect that used to be very rare and was only found on Box on Box Hill. The good news is that this bug is expanding its range and now occurs widely in the south-east of England and beyond, feeding on other species such as Hawthorn, Bramble, Rose, Yew and Plum, as well as Box. Less welcome for gardeners is the Box Sucker or Boxwood Psyllid, Psylla buxi, which sucks the sap and distorts the shoots. However, regular clipping will remove the affected shoots.

More serious for gardeners is Box Blight, a fungal disease of box leaves and stems caused by two fungi, Cylindrocladium buxicola and Pseudonectria buxi. Cylindrocladium buxicola can affect Sarcocooca and Pachysandra as well as Box. Both fungi make Box leaves go brown and fall, leading to bare patches. In severe outbreaks, it may be necessary to dig out the infected plants and destroy them. There is plenty of advice on the internet: Monty Don describes his troubles with Box Blight and Bunny Guinness describes how to control it. Sensible measures not involving fungicides include not watering the plants from above and clipping box hedges less severely and frequently.

In the garden, Box is also affected by other troubles, such as Box Rust, Box Red Spider Mite and Mussel Scale.

If you want to have a green edge for your borders and beds but want to avoid Box, Ilex crenata is worth considering. At Highgrove Gardens they use Hedge Germander, Teucrium lucidrys, as a hedge. The effect is different but there is the added benefit of more pleasantly scented foliage and flowers that are attractive to humans, bees and butterflies alike.

Further reading:

J. Edward Milner, “The Tree Book”, Collins & Brown, London, 1992
Richard Mabey, “Flora Britannica”, Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1996.