Common box
Buxus sempervirens
- Size
- 1.5 m tall, 1.2 m across
- Light
- Part sun, shade, full sun
- Hardy to
- -23 degrees
- Flowers
- March to April
- A hedge
- Clipped shapes
- Edging a bed or a path
- Evergreen
- Takes a formal hedge
Safety
- Can cause illness if eaten; keep it away from small children.
- Can upset a dog that chews it.
- Can upset a cat that chews it.
Reviewed and approved for Poland by a qualified gardener with thirty years of practice, 22 September 2026.
What it needs, what it becomes
- Type
- Shrubs
- Family
- Buxaceae
- Size when mature
- 1.5 m tall, 1.2 m across
- Light
- Part sun, shade, full sun
- Moisture
- Medium
- Soil
- loam, chalk, clay
- Soil pH
- 6 to 8
- Hardy to
- -23 degrees
- Flowers
- March to April
- For pollinators
- Some
- Water
- Medium water
- Upkeep
- Some
- Growth
- Slow
- In Europe
- Native
- Spreading risk
- None known
- If eaten
- People: Can cause illness · Dogs: Can cause illness · Cats: Can cause illness
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Lists it is on
- Plants for shade30 plantsWhat grows on the north side of a house, under a tree and against a wall the sun reaches for an hour.
- Evergreen plants24 plantsWhat holds a garden together from November to March, when the rest of it is underground.
- Plants for a hedge13 plantsSpecies that take clipping and close into a line, with the mature height of each.
