Buxus sempervirens

English Boxwood

Buxaceae

Overview

Buxus sempervirens is a versatile evergreen shrub that brings timeless structure and formal elegance to Pacific Northwest gardens with its dense, fine-textured foliage that responds exceptionally well to shaping. This architectural plant serves as living architecture in regional gardens, defining spaces through hedging, topiary, and specimen plantings while tolerating the region's typically acidic soils and variable moisture conditions. Unlike many broadleaf evergreens, boxwood maintains consistent deep green coloration throughout winter in most Pacific Northwest locales, though may exhibit bronzing in colder eastern areas during severe weather. Its exceptional longevity—specimens can thrive for decades when properly sited—makes it particularly valuable for establishing garden bones in both historic and contemporary landscape designs throughout western Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

How to Identify

Buxus sempervirens can be identified by its dense, rounded growth habit and distinctive small, oval leaves arranged in opposite pairs along the stems. The leathery, glossy leaves are approximately 0.5-1 inch long with entire margins and a dark green upper surface contrasting with a lighter yellowish-green underside. When crushed, the foliage emits a characteristic pungent fragrance often described as balsamic or cat-like. The bark is light tan to gray, developing shallow fissures with age and often visible in the interior structure when peering into older plantings. Unlike Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla), common boxwood typically has slightly larger leaves and a more upright growth tendency when left unpruned.