with all the alternatives out there .. and what you already know.. why are you still interested in boxwood???

i used to be so intrigued by all those castles or whatever .. ver-sales and british formal gardens .. etc ....

and then one day the very bright light went on.. and i figured out.. i didnt have an army of gardeners to shear them .. they were a monoculture ... and no govmnt subsidy to pay for it all ...

and so ended my fascination with boxwood ...

ken

I actually love to sheer hedges, and I especially love the admittedly weird smell of boxwood. Some holdover from childhood, I expect. We do have a landscaper, but he leaves all the formal hedges to me unless I specifically ask otherwise.

If the blight is currently present in your area, then I would look to another plant as an alternative. Or at least a boxwood that has been established as resistant cultivar. (btw, no cultivar of boxwood has proven to be immune to this issue....just that some are less susceptible than others). It makes no sense to put $$, time and effort into developing a boxwood hedge only to have it decimated by blight in a few years.

No one in this rural area has seen BB. Yet. But having come here from the Raleigh area, I fear it will come. The space in question gets 4-6 hours morning sun. Not enough, as I understand it, for compacta holly which I used in NC. Anyone have a suggestion for a good formal edging substitute? Many thanks.