Clipping Boxwood Hedges

Our many boxwood hedges make our little New England garden feel more like an English garden than most anything else does. I think now that I cannot have enough. They all are clipped twice a year, once in mid summer, and again just before winter.

I’ve been clipping out boxwood hedges, in and around the parterre and the culinary herb garden for three weeks now – a little later than usual, as typically, we cut the box in June, and again in mid-September, but with a late spring, and a wetter then normal summer, the new growth on the boxwood matured later than normal. Late July may be late, but it won’t hurt our many boxwood’s, as most are English boxwood’s, and can handle a hard cut most anytime during a wet summer. It seems the square footage of boxwood that I need to trim increases each year – here is how I handled the task this year…

Boxwood hedges that surround the perennial border in front of the greenhouse, are clipped in mid summer, and again in mid autumn to keep a tidy appearance throughout the winter.

Boxwood’s are thought to be problematic in New England suffering with winter kill and wind damage, but so far, we have been lucky. We don’t fuss that much, we rarely cover most of the hedges with winter wrapping of burlap ( although, I started last year with the English Boxwood), and we do little else besides their bi-annual clip and trim. I’ve been so please with the result of this major planting of box which began ten years ago, that I am investing in hundreds of new plants for a brand new knot garden that I will be writing about soon, which will replace an old putting green behind our house – the most viewed part of the garden.

I’ve been getting a little fancy with some of the boxwood’s, training those at the end of the walks, into columns, cones and geometric shapes. My favorite tools here are Japanese clipper (I never use electric sheers), and hand scissors.

Details are carved out with scissors. This shape is one I started planning two years ago, and only now am I starting to see the results, as it takes some time for growth to fill-in.

The goal with my hedges in front of the greenhouse is to keep them perfectly level. One year I used a level and a string to establish the perfect line. Now, it is easier to eyeball it against a distant fence. Hand sheers also allow one to remain level.

Forming perfect balls is unrealistic, and unhealthy, as light still needs to reach below the plants. Think more like gum drops rather than gum balls.

English Boxwood can look like velvet , if trimmed properly. It is generally preferred by most hedgeries, as it grows dense and green, allowing for more artistic freedom, and in expressing geometry.

The garden always seems neater once the box are clipped. Be sure to rake up every last twig and leaf, for one hot sunny day will turn all trimmings to an ugly brown.

This weekend, I have finally finished trimming most of the hedges, just in time for the Agapanthus pots to begin blooming. It’s hummingbird season once again, for these are indeed magnets for hummers.

Even the large Bay Laurels appreciated a hair cut.

After a week of trimming hedges….I felt a bit like this.

Daphne, our young female Irish Terrier cooled off, catching honey bees that were trying to drink a bit of water in a bird bath.