NewGen Independence® Boxwood

Some gardeners are unsure about growing boxwoods, because of disease and pest problems, which have increased in some parts of the country. You can set yourself free of those worries by choosing the NewGen Independence® Japanese Boxwood. This variety has excellent resistance to boxwood blight, and good resistance to boxwood leafminer, problems that have become serious in many places. It has more to offer than those important things, because this is a great boxwood where you want a rounded shape for accents or for more formal decoration. It’s ideal for growing with just one annual trim, and will grow steadily into a rounded form 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, or a bit more once it matures. You can also clip it more often, and have super-dense, perfect spheres, but hey, life is short, and that yearly trim is just fine – you’ll see. Use it for accents in your beds, or paired on either side of a door, gate, or at the foot of steps. Ideal for pots too, which can be left outdoors all winter from zone 7, or buried in the garden for the coldest months if you are in zones 5 or 6. Japanese boxwood are good choices for colder areas, and the density of the branching in this variety gives it good resistance to snow load.

• Top choice for disease and pest resistance
• Great foliage color of rich green, with very glossy leaves
• 2 to 3 feet tall and round – ideal for accents and pots
• Grows well even in zone 5
• Trim as needed, or enjoy it’s natural rounded form

It’s best to plant the NewGen Independence® Japanese Boxwood in full sun, but in hot zones some afternoon shade is useful, especially in drier soils. It will grow to perfection in moist, rich, well-drained soils, but it does just fine in regular garden soils too, but not in wet ground. In hotter zones water regularly through the summer months if the weather is dry. Use an evergreen fertilizer in spring, in a liquid formulation if you are growing it in a pot. It has good resistance to both blight and leafminer, but in poor conditions, or if your garden already had serious blight problems, it isn’t totally immune. Trim once the spring growth has hardened, and up to the end of summer if you want super-neat balls. Deer and rabbit-proof.