How to create the mini hedge

What do I need to pay attention to when purchasing?

Buy only healthy plants, they should not have withered leaves or brown spots on the leaves. The box tree moth represents a great danger for the box tree, it can cause the plants to die. Check the underside of the leaves to see whether there are any eggs of the pest there. They are lenticular and pale yellow.

Which boxwood is particularly suitable as a bed border?

Most of the time, the borders for individual beds should be rather low. The slow-growing boxwood varieties are best suited for this purpose. Multicolored-leaved boxwood is particularly decorative, but unfortunately often not as hardy as green-leaved varieties. You need shelter from the frost in a cold winter. In a mild area, however, they are well suited as a bed border.

How do I plant the boxwood as a border?

It is ideal if you plant your new box hedge in spring. If you mark the route with a string, your bed border will be straight. The planting distance depends on the size and vigor of the box tree chosen. For plants about 10 to 15 cm in size, a distance of approx. ten centimeters.

Thoroughly water the root balls of your boxwood while digging the planting holes. Loosen the soil and, if necessary, refine it with a little compost. After planting, water the plants again thoroughly. You can now cut back larger box trees by about a third, but this is not recommended for very small plants.

How do I care for my boxwood?

During the growing season from April to September, you can prune the box every four weeks if necessary. This will encourage it to grow thickly. However, a pruned boxwood needs a relatively large amount of water, otherwise it will take a long time for it to sprout new leaves.

The essentials in brief:

• choose a small, slow-growing variety
• Mark the border of the bed with string
• Water the root ball
• fertilize with compost
• water well