The American Boxwood, otherwise known as the Buxus Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ or Boxwood ‘Blauer Heinz’, Common Boxwood ‘Blauer Heinz’, English Boxwood ‘Blauer Heinz’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and slow growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this American Boxwood Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
In order to take proper care of your American Boxwood you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The American Boxwood prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Buxus Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the American Boxwood in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the American Boxwood this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the American Boxwood belongs to the Buxaceae family, the genus Buxus and the species Sempervirens, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Buxus Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ (BUK-sus sem-per-VY-renz).
As with other Buxus’s, the American Boxwood is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The American Boxwood is a plant native to the Europe to N. Iran and N. Africa.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to always keep in mind your plants’ native region and environment, since these are the conditions that your American Boxwood is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Buxus Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 6 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 3, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the American Boxwood is a relatively slow grower, which makes things easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, what size of American Boxwood are we talking about? What can you expect in terms of height, spread and spacing? Let’s dig in…
The Buxus Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ can grow up to 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the American 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 columnar, and narrow shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 18″ – 24″ (45cm – 60cm) free so the American Boxwood can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the American 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 Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ 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 American 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 occasionally wet properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your American Boxwood is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the American Boxwood prefers to have soil with good drainage, and occasionally wet 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 American Boxwood requires soil with high organic matter, 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 American 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 Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the American 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 American Boxwood to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
The American Boxwood produces some wonderful cream/tan and gold/yellow flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the American Boxwood have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a opposite organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Buxus Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ to be around (< 1 inch) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The American 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 Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your American Boxwood have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Buxus Sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most cottage, 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 American Boxwood’s best location within your garden is in patio and containers, beds and borders, and in small gardens, others use it for landscaping in a specimen, privacy screen, container, border, hedge, mass planting, or a topiary.
Companion Plants
American Boxwood’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Cotoneaster, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Berberis will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy American Boxwood in your garden or home.
