If you are a beginner gardener, you may haven’t heard that there are more than 150 boxwood varieties. In the past, there were only two kinds, English and American, but in time, they were cultivated to grow less susceptible to disease boxwood plants.
Boxwood varieties are among the most preferred outdoor landscape plants for their resistance to different climates, shaping possibility and lasting green foliage. In the past, boxwood was part of the knot gardens in royal courtyards, but nowadays, it is one of the most common green plants seen in landscape designs.
Whether you are looking for a formal or a casual landscape design, you will find your inspiration in these 20 Most Beautiful Boxwood Landscaping Ideas (Shrubs and Trees).
1. American Boxwood Landscaping Idea
This boxwood type is perfect for screening or forming dense outdoor shapes that catch the eye. The plant is a slow-grower although it can reach up to 20 feet height and width.
The front yard of this traditional home is decorated with boxwood shrubs closer to the front door and fences from the plant that ends in a spiral shape that embraces a small boxwood bush.
2. Boxwood As A Garden Edge
To keep the outdoors lively and green, you can use boxwood shrubs as a fence.
They are perfect for tracing a garden bed or differentiating one garden bed from another. In this image, the boxwood shrubs outline a tree garden bed.
3. Boxwood Topiaries
American boxwood is known to be the tallest in the family. You can use this plant to create topiaries in different shapes.
To maintain your plant to the desired standard, prune away side stems from the main one and then lightly trim the leaves to achieve the shape.
4. Harland Boxwood Shrubs
This boxwood species is perfect to be grown as individual shrubs in a mulch garden.
The shrub doesn’t go over 3 feet in height which is perfect for terraced gardens with a mix of seasonal flowers and trees.
5. Boxwood Parterres
The landscape of this modern home is a mix of contemporary and traditional. Boxwood plants are planted in a rectilineal form to match the neighborhood’s traditional landscape.
The modern touch in this well-maintained backyard is the addition of contemporary concrete spheres, jasmine, gardenia and muhly grass.
6. Layers Of Boxwood
Boxwood can be the only specimen in your garden but to make it appealing and unique, you can plant it in masses and layers.
In this amazing landscape idea, boxwood shrubs are trimmed short to form natural hedges of garden beds in a rectangular shape. They anchor taller boxwood kinds shaped like different topiaries.
7. Boxwood Edging A Flower Garden
The short green layer that the boxwood can create is a lovely organic way to create contrast for seasonal colorful flowers. The shape of the boxwood fence depends on the size of your flower garden and the interest you would like to create.
Short varieties such as Sprinter and Wedding Ring are resistant to blight and winter burn and are great for low hedges.
8. Boxwood Drawfs
The boxwood dwarf North Star has dense foliage and a globe form. It is perfect for mixed gardens where boxwood shrubs alternate with rose bushes or other flowers.
Suffruticosa is a cultivar of English boxwood and is also a preferred shrub for its slow growth and dwarf size.
9. Backdrop For Tulips
Sculptured boxwood plants in the shape of linear hedges are perfect as a green backdrop for lilac tulips.
The boxwood is maintained low to let the tulips peek out and amaze with their eye-catching color and delicate blossoms.
10. Korean Boxwood As A Hedging
Korean boxwood is perfect for hedges or edging. It resists cold winters without any change to the leaf color. In this landscape idea, the boxwood outlines a border between the patio and the lawn.
Instead of a straight line, the homeowners have sculpted it a little, creating curves where there are beds with climbing roses.
11. Boxwood Labyrinth
Boxwood labyrinths date back to Renaissance Europe being the most popular type of garden from the 16th century on in rich people’s and royal backyards.
This beautiful landscape is inspired by the hedge mazes featuring only a small section of boxwood hedges.
12. Edge For Perennials
Sculptured boxwood shrubs create a thick and green edge of a garden bed filled with white hydrangeas.
The boxwood border enhances the elegance created by the layered white blossoms.
13. Boxwood In Raised Garden Beds
You can grow boxwood in oversized pots or other containers. In this landscape idea, the boxwood plants act as a border of symmetrical raised garden beds that beautify the front door of a house.
The harmonious look is continued by two boxwood topiaries on both sides of the front door. The best boxwood kinds for such tall sculptured living decorations are Fastigiata, Graham Blandy or Dee Runk.
14. Walkway Fence
Make the visual experience while passing through a walkway unique by framing it with boxwood hedges.
You can trim all boxwood plants to the same height or sculpture topiaries in key places such as the beginning of the walkway, its end, next to a tree in the garden bed.
15. Fountain Backdrop
Layers of boxwood presented in different shapes and heights turn this garden into a whimsy outdoor space. Boxwood globes grow in oversized terra cotta pots, short linear hedges frame alliums.
Cone boxwood shrubs and topiaries show how this plant can create interest in height.
16. Improved Curb Appeal With Boxwood Hedge
The biggest advantage of boxwood is that its hedges can be sculpted to your taste and the specifics of your outdoor space.
Borders can be rounded, curved, or straight.
17. Pyramidal Boxwood
If you don’t have much time to maintain a lush garden and yet want to upgrade your landscape, you can plant Pyramidal boxwood. It naturally forms a cone shape so trimming and sculpturing are not needed.
This low-maintenance boxwood topiary is great to add interest to flower gardens, mulch gardens or to enhance the symmetry of the entryway by planting it in two oversized pots
18. Boxwood Hedges In A Gravel Garden
Boxwood plants in this landscape idea are used for garden bed containment. There is no need for low fences; the dense foliage of the boxwood is the perfect living wall.
Here, the versatility of boxwood is proven one more time seeing it as part of a contemporary gravel and stone backyard.
19. Boxwood Garden Bed
Boxwood is sculptured as a haze and ends with tall topiaries to create an elegant and lively “welcome” setting.
Boxwood is a plant that can be seen in any type of garden because of its versatility and relatively low maintenance requirements.
20. Make A Parterre
With boxwood parterres, you can give the backyard a more formal look. The geometric design, the pattern and whether to mix it or not with other plants is up to your liking.
In this landscaping idea, the impactful parterre features boxwood plants arranged in a square. Inside the square, there are two rows of boxwood placed diagonally which create four separate sections for seasonal plants.
