The Green Beauty Boxwood, otherwise known as the Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ is a pretty well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its dark green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Green Beauty Boxwood Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Green Beauty Boxwood are the following:
- Water: The Green Beauty Boxwood prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Green Beauty Boxwood in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And as with many other plants, these are the only three care factors you need to remember to make sure your Green Beauty Boxwood is, for the most part, healthy and well to survive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Green Beauty Boxwood belongs to the Buxaceae family, the genus Buxus and the species Microphylla, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ (BUK-sus my-kroh-FIL-uh juh-PON-ih-kuh).
As with other Buxus’s, the Green Beauty Boxwood is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Green Beauty Boxwood is a plant native to the Japan.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Green Beauty Boxwood. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 6 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 3, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Green Beauty Boxwood is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Green Beauty Boxwood actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ can grow up to 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) in 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) and 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) in 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm).
These dimensions make the Green Beauty Boxwood a relatively medium shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful rounded shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 36″ – 60″ (90cm – 150cm) free so the Green Beauty Boxwood can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Green Beauty Boxwood is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Green Beauty Boxwood in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Green Beauty Boxwood since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Green Beauty Boxwood prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Green Beauty Boxwood requires soil with clay, loam (silt), and sand, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Green Beauty Boxwood requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in shade, or partial sun to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ in from little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to dappled or moderate shade (under other plant’s canopy).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Green Beauty Boxwood will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Green Beauty Boxwood to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
The Green Beauty Boxwood produces some beautiful yellow, or cream/tan and green flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Green Beauty Boxwood have a beautiful dark green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a opposite organization in its leaves.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Green Beauty Boxwood is well known for its tolerance to drought and animals like rabbit and deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Green Beauty Boxwood? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Buxus Microphylla Var. Japonica ‘Green Beauty’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most cottage, asian/zen contemporary, and mediterranean gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of mediterranean garden, city and courtyard, formal garden, and in modern garden styles.
In particular, the Green Beauty Boxwood’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, and in hedges and screens, others use it for landscaping in a topiary, privacy screen, container, border, hedge, mass planting, or a urban garden.
Companion Plants
Green Beauty Boxwood’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Spiraea, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Weigela will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
And we’ve come to an end. Fortunately, that’s everything you need to know about your Green Beauty Boxwood to keep it safe and sound in your garden or home. Enjoy planting!
