No one grows either of these?

:)

Dee

Hi Design Fan! Thanks for your input. Thankfully, my daughter doesn't really have deer issues. I think all the dogs (three of her four neighbors on each side have dogs!) help with that.

I do love boxwood but I have become hesitant to use it because of blight issues. It's rather expensive and slow-growing so I don't want to invest and then lose them. I think some of the small-leafed hollies are the next best thing. According to what I've read these two varieties - Shamrock and Compacta - are quite popular, so I was hoping more folks here had experience with them.

I can't believe you can actually HEAR a leaf miner infestation. Yikes!

:)

Dee

I understand about the reluctance to plant boxwoods due to blight. You likely can’t go wrong with one of the two inkberries you selected. The birds will enjoy the berries.

I noticed the boxwood leaves curling on multiple branch tips of a very mature bush next to my front door and kept hearing a chittering when I leaned in for closer looks. I thought I must be imagining it until an arborist stopped by to walk the property a couple days later, leaned in and said they were leaf miners based on the leaf curl and (without me saying it) the noise he could hear. Reminded me of mexican jumping beans.

Did you buy the inkberries yet? I thought of your thread when I read today that a local horticulturist suggested two inkberries in addition to Shamrock - Gem Box and Strongbox. The latter retains its leaves on its lower branches as it

matures unlike Shamrock.

Design Fan I actually have looked at both those hollies - I bought one of them (can't remember which right now lol) for my own garden. I was looking for something just a tad taller here. I'm hoping for about 4-4.5 feet tall, whereas as far as I can tell these two get about 3 feet tall.

But thank you for thinking of me and posting! Much appreciated!

:)

Dee