The importance of the evergreen shrub

What is the importance of boxwood in garden design?

evergreen boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) is an important one in Germany ornamental and useful wood with these uses in the garden:

• garden design: bed edging in the rose and cottage garden, cut compatibleprivacy hedge,
• Garden art: topiary for tubs and beds as a representative sculpture or geometric figure.
• Cultivation as a utility tree: Processing of extremely hard boxwood into woodwind instruments, violins, chess pieces, kitchen utensils, artistic wood carvings and wooden sculptures.

What cultural significance does the boxwood have?

The cultural significance of boxwood is primarily based on one sacred and spiritual symbolism. People of the Catholic faith decorate crosses and altars on Palm Sunday with consecrated boughs of boxwood. Priests use tufts of boxwood as holy water feathers. More and more Christians decorate one instead of the Christmas tree

As a spiritual symbol, boxwood stands for protection against evil spirits. So you can boxwood at the house entrance plant, to protect the residents from nasty witches, dangerous lightning and hail.

What is the importance of boxwood as a medicinal plant?

As a medicinal plant, boxwood is of secondary importance, because the wood poisonous is. In ancient times, boxwood was used for coughs, rheumatism, and stomach and intestinal diseases. Today, the poisonous plant is occasionally used in homeopathy.

More than 70 toxic alkaloids are found in Buxus sempervirens, making dosing a risky proposition. Even a slight overdose of boxwood as a medicinal plant causes severe nausea, tormenting vomiting and can be fatal.