Boxwoods are evergreen dense shrubs that belong to the Buxaceae family. They are popular garden shrubs to grow all the year-round and provide beauty and color to your landscape. Boxwoods are easy-to-grow plants and are tolerant to a range of soil types. These evergreens are every gardener’s great choice.
In this article, you will find the best companion plants for boxwood. In addition, we will also discuss the growth requirements of boxwood, grass pests, and diseases that need to be avoided under certain conditions to help increase their longevity.
We’ll also share the five best in addition to the five worst companion plants for and against when planting with Boxwood plants.
Why Does Boxwood Need Companion Plants?
Considering the right partner will encourage each other’s growth. To understand why Boxwood needs companion planting, let’s first understand what companion plants are.
Companion plants are those that work well together. Companion plants are age-old practice for growing various plants altogether. This Chinese practice increases the productivity of garden plants. They support boosting soil nutrients, repel pests and insects, and aid in many other ways. Other factors involve weather, soil condition, watering, fertilizing, etc., influencing plant growth and survival.
Likewise, boxwoods need companion plants to promote healthy growth. Planting boxwood with their companions will make the soil fertile, attract beneficial pollinators and insects, repel pests and insects, keep weeds out, prevent soil erosion, and provide ground cover and shade.
5 Best Boxwood Companion Plants
When considering companion planting, Boxwood may thrive well with plants that share similar growing conditions. We are sharing five extremely versatile companion plants to plant with Boxwood.
1. Daffodils
Daffodils are eye-captivating flowers; placing them with Boxwood in the garden can enhance the view by adding colors to the space.
Combining Daffodils with Boxwood helps hide fading foliage at the end of spring.
Both Boxwood and Daffodils require excellent drainage, making them good companions.
2. Tulips
Both tulips and boxwoods prefer good drainage for healthy growth. So they can work well together.
Boxwood and Tulips share equal sun exposure as they tolerate light shade conditions.
Visually they add beauty to your backyard, so pairing them together can be a good choice for your garden.
3. Peonies
Peonies and Boxwood are good companions since they have similar temperature needs.
Peonies can be a popular companion plant for boxwood because they contribute pollen and nectar for beneficial insects like bees.
Planting them together can improve the visual appeal of a garden.
4. Petunias
Petunia’s are very adaptive to any condition and are easy to grow. Planting them with Boxwood makes them friendly companion plants.
Petunias and boxwood both prefer well-drained soil.
Planting Petunias alongside boxwood can increase the visual look of the garden.
5. Roses
Boxwood creates great vision when placed with Roses as a bordering plant.
Roses and Boxwood have similar growing demands, such as zones, soil type, and height.
Pruning time of both roses and boxwoods are the same is. It’s at the end of winter when you clear out all dead twigs and branches.
5 Worst Companion Plants For Boxwood
Boxwoods can thrive with many plants. However, there are some plants that, when grown with Boxwood may grow less in its shade or compete with its roots. This would result in decreasing the spread and growth of boxwood.
Here are 5 worst companion plants that don’t work well alongside boxwood.
1. Elaeagnus
Elaeagnus is a fast growing shrub that spreads quickly leaving very little space for other plants. It’s therefore not advisable to plant boxwood near elaeagnus since they may limit the growth of the former.
Elaeagnus shrub, when planted with boxwood, may result in the spread of diseases and pests.
Growing Boxwood with elaeagnus is not a good idea, as it may make the garden space look denser, making it a tedious task for a gardener.
2. Black Walnut
Black Walnuts are known for their growth-inhibiting nature that affects other plants like boxwood when they are planted together.
Both the plant’s water requirements are different. Boxwood needs a regular water supply, so if planted together, they may compete for water.
Black Walnut stunts the growth of other plants when grown nearby. So would prove to be a bad companion plant for boxwood.
3. Cypress
Cypress is a tall bushy shrub, unlike boxwood, which is a small bushy plant. Planting them together might prevent sunlight from reaching it, thus diminishing the growth of boxwood.
The lack of sunlight can also give rise to harmful diseases and pests in boxwood.
Growing cypress with boxwood wouldn’t look good when placed together because of their difference in size.
4. Joe Pye
When planted with Boxwood, Joe Pye can be susceptible to diseases in shady conditions. Joe Pye thrives on full exposure to sun.
The soil requirements are different. Joe Pye needs rich soil, whereas Boxwood needs loamy soil to propagate.
Joe Pye would compete with boxwood for water, making them bad companions.
5. Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus produces allelopathic compounds that can destroy the root systems of Boxwood. So planting them together isn’t recommended.
Tall trees, like Eucalyptus prevent sunlight from reaching boxwood when planted together, thus resulting in pests and disease attacks.
Avoid pairing them together, as Eucalyptus is a toxic plant; placing them in your yard can be harmful.
What Are Boxwood’s Growing Requirements?
Every gardener needs to understand the growing requirements when planting certain plants in the garden; let’s look at the Boxwood plants growing conditions:
- Season: Plant Boxwoods in late winter to early spring.
- Sun: They can tolerate full sunlight to partial shade. Avoid overexposure to the sun, which may cause burning of the foliage.
- Soil: Boxwood is adaptive to loamy and well-drained soil, with a pH of 6 to 7.
- Water: The base of the plant must be watered well to keep the foliage dry and stores moisture with a layer of mulch. In summer, mature boxwood needs regular water. They’re drought-tolerant and only need extra watering during dry spells.
- Fertilizer: Apply a balanced amount of fertilizer that encourages plant growth.
- Bloom: Boxwood doesn’t need much fertilizer. Loamy soil and regular watering are just as crucial for their good health.
- Pruning: Trimming Boxwood encourages new growth in late spring and summer.
- Color: Small yellow and white color flowers are found in the Boxwood plant.
- Height: Boxwoods are fast-growing plants ranging from 2 to 4 feet tall.
Grass Diseases And Pests
Boxwoods are evergreen garden shrubs, but pests and diseases can take hold if not adequately cared for. Poor growing conditions, lack of care, weather conditions, and soggy soil are the causes of plant decline.
Understanding the basic requirements to deal with these pests and diseases and preventing them is essential to keep this evergreen plant healthy.
Here are some of the Diseases and Pests that can occur with boxwood.
Diseases of Boxwood
- Boxwood Blight
- Pythium Root Rots
- Volutella Blight or Canker
- Macrophoma Leaf Spot
- Powdery Mildew
Pests of Boxwood
- Boxwood Leaf Miner
- Boxwood Phyllid
- Boxwood Mite
- Box Tree Moth
- Oystershell Scale
- Lesion nematodes
- Caterpillars
- Mites
Remedies to Protect Boxwood From Diseases And Pests:
Boxwoods grow under very little sunlight. This can result in pests and disease attacks. Multi-step approaches are needed to protect boxwood from them.
- Periodic spraying of fungicides has shown some disease suppression.
- Sprays containing bifenthrin, carbaryl, cyfluthrin, or malathion organic are suitable for treating boxwood bushes.
- Organic treatment with neem oil is an age-old practice.
- Sanitize all equipment types, including gardening tools, clothing, gloves, and shoes.
Conclusion
In the above article, we have discussed the best companion plants for boxwood and their requirements. These companion plants will not only help in the healthy growth but also result in beautiful landscaping of your garden.
But, to truly enjoy a healthy garden, you must know which plants to avoid pairing with these delicate wood bushy flowering plants.
Enjoy planting!