See round this beautiful private garden, as head gardener Jim Treby recommends the best shrubs for clipping into sculptural evergreen topiary and low hedges. Box (English boxwood) is the best shrub for topiary, but box blight and box caterpillar moth are damaging box in gardens everywhere. Jim names the three top alternatives to box and how to choose them. He also explains why three plants that are often recommended as alternatives to box may not work for you.
0:14 Box or English boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). The dark purple balls are Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’ (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tom Thumb’)
0:22 The cone is box (Buxus sempervirens) and the low hedge is Japanese holly (Ilex crenata)
0:28 The lollipop shape is Viburnum tinus
0:33 Box balls on the ground, with viburnum tinus lollipops behind
0:55 Box cones, low hedge is Japanese holly, grey balls are Pittosporum variegatum (Pittosporum tenuifolium variegatum)
1:06 Box cones
2:29 English yew (Taxus baccata)
2:40 English yew (Taxus baccata)
3:00 The high clipped hedge is English yew (Taxus baccata)
3:04 The two columns are Irish yew (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’)
4:50 Pittosporum (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Cratus’)
5:06 Pittosporum ‘Cratus’
5:45 Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’
7:27 Japanese holly (Ilex crenata)
8:20 Lollipop shapes behind the box balls are Viburnum tinus
8:44 Clipped conifer hedge is Cypress leylandii (darker green) and Thuja occidentalis (paler green)
For garden ideas, gardening advice, garden design and landscaping ideas for your garden or backyard, subscribe to the Middlesized Garden YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThemiddlesizedgardenCoUk
Whether you love English garden style, cottage gardens or contemporary urban gardening, The Middlesized Garden has gardening advice and garden ideas for you.
Weekly videos cover gardening advice and garden design – from small space gardens to middle-sized garden landscaping – plus garden tours and tips for container gardening.
The Middlesized Garden practices sustainability, wildlife gardening and no till methods. If your garden backyard is smaller than an acre, join us and enjoy your garden even more!
The Middlesized Garden Complete Guide to Garden Privacy is available in Kindle or paperback in 13 countries (in English only). If you’d like your garden to feel more private, click here for availability in your country: https://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/books/the-complete-guide-to-garden-privacy/
#gardening #gardendesign #backyardgarden
For small and middlesized backyards and gardens….
See The Middlesized Garden blog: http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/
For Amazon storefront see: https://www.amazon.com/shop/themiddle-sizedgarden
Note: links to Amazon are affiliate which means I get a small fee for qualifying purchases. It doesn’t affect the price you pay and I only recommend things I use myself or really think you’d like!
More garden ideas on Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.co.uk/midsizegarden/boards/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/midsizegarden
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themiddlesizedgarden/
44 Comments
Brilliant
Interesting information. Thanks for sharing! 🙂 Here in South Texas (Zone 8b-9), I use dwarf yaupon holly, lorapetalum, and cenizo (aka Texas sage) for evergreen structure and hedges. They do much better with the heat, blazing sun, drought, and deer than some of the more traditional plant options.
I lost a small box hedge to the caterpillar. 😢 Now I am more careful with my remaining big box cube. Keep an eye on it and spray it. Usually once in late spring is sufficient. Being a caterpillar bio insecticide based on bacillus t. is effective.
I haven’t seen box blight in my area but since I spray for the caterpillar I add some copper oxide as preventative. Copper is not a synthetic pesticide and it’s used in organic agriculture. I agree with reducing intervention as much as possible and in fact I prefer not to spray but when I have an established plant in my garden, a disease is threatening its very life and the remedy is relatively simple I use it.
Great program- subsequent info very useful reference. Saves me the expense of purchasing Box plants due to the prevalence of unwanted guest in my garden – going for the recommended substitute. Cheers
The way he pronounces Euonymus is adorable. Nice looking intelligent man. Where can I get one?
Loved this video. I've been busy the last two years putting in evergreens and boxwood to create the winter interest that my garden needs. I don't believe we have the blight or caterpillar here in Canada. Love your floral jacket!
Thank you very much for this very informative video! This is so useful!
I'm at the start of the planning phase for my new medium sized garden and I'm looking to use a lot of evergreens, so this video is most welcome. Thanks as always.
Another useful episode. My favorite hedge shrub which here in France is called something like Orangier de Mexique, ( Mexican orange?) makes beaufiful flowers in late summer, the leaves smell like oranges all year, and it grows quickly, yet does not surpass two meters. Does it do well in UK gardens?
Exactly the video I needed at exactly the right time!
Great information, thank you 😊
The tour was beautiful. Thank you for the information. I really love the formality and structure of topiary evergreens and will be adding more to my garden.
More like this please, 😊💚
Absolutely love that idea at the end with the tall hedge, the contrasting greens are just lovely. The head gardener had all round excellent tips, not to mention the excellent questions. Also…Thanks for putting together the playlist.!
Three ads four minutes in?!
I would not have thought to pair Leyland cypress with another type of evergreen to form such an interesting hedge. If I only had the space for that!
I have a great success in pruning Hebe to dense evergreen balls.. perhaps not great for upright shapes but I dont have to worry about pests or weather; plus added bonus of flush of flowers once a year.
Thank you Alexandra! I only have 1 topiary so far. It was suppose to be a chicken, but it turned out to be more like a fluffy duck. 🙂
Wow! Wow! Beautiful garden. Great tips and ideas for evergreen. Looks beautiful all year long. I loved it 😍
Jim certainly knows he's stuff! Excellent video! 😁 👍
Wow! So informative!
Fantastic shrubs! I have never seen such beautiful ones despite my living in a very beautiful city
Hi Alexandra, another great video… i watched a bunny guinness video where she refererences evergreen oak from which she's created fantastic large lollypop shaped topiary. I wonder if you could help answer sa plant identification question on the 'Growing dahlias' video at 4:07 the name of the tall plant on the left with the red/magenta stems and green leavers with the grass like flowers. Looks very dramatic in a border. ….do you know the name? I jumped on the Salutation Gardens website however they seem to have gone into liquidation!
I am also made top design topiry…
Very very beautiful video friend
So beautiful!!
Great interviewing asked every question I wanted asked and more , great channel just discovering it learning a lot to help me along in my own selection of viable plant stock and how to prune , Instagram ainsworth.Joshua
This is just what I needed, I am seriously contemplating much more topiary in my garden, so thank you Alexandra👌
In the US, ilex crenata convexa is so widely available it's called "Redneck Boxwood"! I've never sneered at it meself. Yellowing leaves that Jim mentions might be linked to a limy soil: it is an Ilex, after all.
Loved the information in this video. Thank you for the work you have put into your interviews.
Isn't yew poisonous to cattle?
This Garden is magnificent! Specially the hedge of Cypress leylandii (darker green) and Thuja occidentalis (paler green). I have always love the thuja so lets see if I get to do such a lovely hedge! Thanks for sharing!
An wonderful, informative video! Thank you!
Love your plants. Thanks for the video
Very helpful video. Five years ago I planted three Cypress Leylandii in the back of my rose border. I know it sounds like a crazy thing to do, but I've clipped them into a poodle-like topiary and been keeping them like this at the height of 110 cm (3.6 feet) each with biannual pruning. I don't know how long they will hang on with such restrictive pruning, so I'm keen on trying English Yew and Viburnum Tinus. Thank you so much for great advice. p.s. I'm gardening in zone 7.
ball LARGE ball’s !
And Lonicera
Alexandra and Jim, thank you 🙏 for this very imformative and very well presented video.
if it's true that many of the round blobs /balls in japanese gardens are small leaved evergreen azaleas, how come azaleas didn't feature at all in your discussion?
Alexandra, your videos are very informative, as always!
Question – What are the white flowers in the background at 6:38 ?
So glad I found this video–so important! Thank you, Alexandra!
good video,very helpful
What about box honeysuckle, lonicera nitida?
Hello Alexandra.I agree about the Ilex Crenata.We planted 40 metres of it as a low hedge around a border 3 years ago and it’s never really done much.Viburnum Tinus has an unpleasant aroma when trimmed & wouldn’t recommend it near seating areas.Thank you.