I have O. X burkwoodii. It can get quite large! But can be very dense with regular shearing (I shear twice in summer). I'm not sure how small you can keep it. Mine is about 7 feet tall with regular shearing. It grows about 8" per year (of course they never stop growing). It blooms white in early spring. Here in Virginia, the blooms can sometimes get zapped by frosts.

Thank you so much for all your helpful responses!

For me O. delavayi was much faster than burkwoodii, but I saw a lot more huge burkwoodii in the Seattle area. The local gardening culture seemed to promote shearing delavayi and keeping it lower, but using burkwoodii as a large screening plant, which I agree with. Eventually both will be a lot of work to keep 4×4, but gardening is a journey, not a destination. IME nothing grows as slowly and mannerly as boxwood.

Lots of other possibilities: Drimys aka Tasmania, Hebe, Daphne, Lonicera Twiggy, Euonymus Greenspire, Nandina, Pittosporum, and of course many dwarf/narrow conifers.

" IME nothing grows as slowly and mannerly as boxwood. "

Japanese holly, Ilex crenata, comes close :-)

And I would have to say that IME, while the other plants suggested by Klark are great, none of them lend themselves easily to being hedged or sheared into a tight, neat form. The lonicera is too small overall but other cultivars that will grow to size nicely also do so with speed. I needed to prune my Lemon Beauty's twice a season and that was not even to attempt to maintain them as a hedge. Screening, for sure but less suited to a trimmed hedge.

Oh, and since the OP asked about Osmanthus, I've grown O. heterophyllus 'Rotundifolius' in four PNW gardens now, and I find it to be the most mannerly of them all.

@artinnature Thank you for the rotundifolius suggestion. It looks like another good alternative for me, but I worry I will be dead before it reaches my desired height with 1"-2" a year growth rate, if that is correct. I really like the Osmanthus for the boxwood effect, but with some flowers and fragrance. I lean towards a somewhat romantic English style garden as it suits the house and site so well. Also @gardengal48 thank you for your suggestions and all your comments on this site. As a novice gardener tackling a 4 acre property in my retirement, I have learned so much from you by reading your comments.

I am not sure what direction, I will go at this point, Ilex Crenata or osmanthus. I think I have PTSD when it comes to Japanese hollies as I planted a sky pencil years ago on the west side of my house (one of the first sizeable shrubs I ever planted) and it promptly died. I was much busier then, paid little attention to my garden then, had zero gardening knowledge so it could have died simply from a lack of water. Lol. Since then, I have killed at least a dozen of plants with much more aplomb.

Yes artinnature !

Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Rotundifolius' is a wonderful shrub! Mine grows rather slowly and I don't think it would take much to keep it dense and lower. And it's not spiny at all. Great suggestion! I just have one of these and I love it. It can take a fair bit of shade too. It may be hard to find though. It is reported to be difficult to root. However, I rooted mine.

Do you have deer? Both Osmanthus and boxwood are deer resistant, but some of the other options suggested are not.

@chloe00s

Yes, lots of deer. Are Ilex Crenata not deer resistant?

Yes, they are. Also, few if any of the alternative plants listed are on the preferred menu for PNW deer, although there may be a few nibbles, especially with new plantings or with juveniles that have to taste everything at least once.

annecorea, Is the smell the reason you don't want boxwood? Do you know what it smells like? It is an odor I cannot tolerate, but I'm rather "spectrumy", so maybe that's just me.

O. Rotundifolius is neither slow nor fast. In your PNW garden it should have a very satisfying rate of growth. If you like, I can post pics of my plant's progress. And no weird smells;).

I think you would also be happy with Ilex crenata growth rate, as long as you choose the right variety, there are a lot!

Another wonderful Ilex crenata cultivar is 'Hoogendorn'. It is rather slow though. Likes good drainage and a bit of shade during hottest part of the day.

@artinnature

I so sorry about the long delay in responding.

I would like to see a photo of your Osthmanthus rotundifolius. Do you know if it would be possible to buy larger plants that are already at least 1.5' in height?

As for the Ilex crenata, the one suggested to me is the Green Island Japanese Holly. It gets much wider than tall, but I guess it can be kept narrower through pruning. Are there any other Japanese Holly suggestions you have that wouldn't take 10 years to reach 3-4' high by 3 ' wide? I'm ok if the takes 5 years or so to reach their desired height and am will to buy larger plants.

Thank you!

Rotundifolius the day it was planted on 2/15/22. Maybe 2' tall? Its the plant closer to the camera.

And today, about 5' tall by 3.5' wide. I love the informal character of Rotundifolius, so zero pruning during that time. It absolutely will tolerate a lot of pruning though, which I have done in previous gardens where there was a lot less space.

Some varieties of ilex are more deer resistant than others. Blue Maid Holly is often eaten, while American Holly is not. One site refers to ilex crenata as only “mildly deer resistant”. Euonymus was suggested, but also not very deer resistant.