Is Buxus the right hedging plant for Hutt Valley conditions?
For fans of low hedging plants and topiary, buxus has been the go-to for many years. It clips well, has an unobtrusive darkish-green colouring and can be a sculptural foreground option for formal and semi-formal garden beds. But then you strike the dreaded blight. Buxus blight manifests as dead and dying leaves with a powdery residue. It’s common throughout the Hutt and spreads rapidly with spores easily windborne and spreading far and wide. Dealing with it is a challenge, most easily managed in the early stages but requiring serious endeavour to get get rid once it’s got a foothold. Note that to replace a 20m stretch of hedge could cost upwards of $800 plus the labour and green waste disposal costs if you’re hiring a gardener.
So what to do? The issue is prevalent in the variety Buxus sempervirens - English box. Planning a new hedge out with this variety is, in my experience, fraught. However the good news is there are blight-resistant varieties of Buxus on the market. My go-to is Green Gem. Now, it’s got a different colouring to sempervirens, being more lime-green with slightly larger rounded leaves. However infiltrated into an existing hedge as a replacement for sempervirens it is relatively unobtrusive to the eye and will be fit & healthy when all about is blight.
Beyond Buxus, you’ve got Lonicera nitida. It’s wind hardy, relatively problem-free and can be clipped into a tight habit with sharp lines. It is vigorous and needs to be clipped regularly to maintain it’s look.
Euonymous is another option that I’ve seen doing well in Hutt gardens. It’s less hardy than green gem and lonicera, requiring well drained soil and reasonable airflow so don’t plant it too closely and/or where drainage is poor. Saying that, it does better than Buxus sempervirens in similar conditions with respect to disease.
Then you’ve got native options with Corokia being a common sight in Hutt gardens.Again, it’s a hardy choice but can be a bit slow growing if it doesn’t get up 5-6 hours of sunlight a day. It has an upright growth habit meaning it’s a good idea to trim the tops to encourage bushy growth.
So, there’s a few options for low hedging species suited to Hutt. We’re in October now so you’ve got a planting window through to November. Alternatively get them in in early autumn so they grow on before winter kicks in.
Happy gardening!