Kitchen Garden Forum

I always pot up a handful of prunings when I trim the four little box balls in an ornamental bit of the garden and they root very readily. Over the past two or three years I've used them to edge a windy corner of the garden and they have made a small hedge to protect the veg and seedlings.
I've tried to restrict the root growth into the bed by slicing down a spade depth and it doesn't seem to be harmed.

Another thing I've tried is to put a plant on the corners of beds and trim it into a neat ball and this acts as a guide for the hosepipe and stops it trailing over the beds when I'm watering.

I've not tried topiary yet apart from the ball shaped ones, so might have to give the next potfull a try.

I like box plants too, and they are easy to propagate from heel cuttings in the autumn. I've edged two of the herbaceous beds with them and they give the garden a nice structure in the winter. They also keep my upper arms toned in the spring and summer...

I have 4 old plants by the garden store where most of the cuttings have come from. 3 on one side of the door are sort of cloud pruned and the one on the other side is a chicken, well, sort of vaguely a chicken... in a stylistic sort of way

In the 'olden days' box plants were used for drying laundry on.

MW

Evening Plumpudding, topiary is always good fun....often just by looking at a youngish bush, you can see what it can be cut into. And never be scared to cut them back hard, they really do respond and you get lots of new shoots to keep the growth compact.