Better Boxwood Alternatives

There is a time and a place for everything- and that includes the boxwood: A stoic topiary at the corners of an unbridled flower bed. Fine. A trim, undulating hedge embracing and framing a luscious garden. Ok. You could even put one, perhaps, in a planter- a deep and calm centering point in a sea of color and texture.

But not on a terrace or roof.

Boxwood must be the number one plant city dwellers spring for and I cannot figure out why. Prone to burning from heat, and calling cards to the white flies and psyllids that flock to the often crowded spaces of city gardens, boxwoods are really not all that interesting! I admit, they can play their part, but why when you have limited space grow such a monotone, insipid plant? Here are some better (if you ask me) alternatives:

Switch grass: I once planted switch grass on the 34th floor of a southwest facing building on the Hudson River. Full sun, blasting heat in summer, freezing ruthless wind in winter. Switch grass looks great, always. The end of day light catches the loose, elegant seed heads just beautifully, and the grass can be grown tall enough to create a translucent, wafty hedge. Oh, and it’s native too.

Winterberry: Another ultra hardy native, winterberry is evergreen with dainty white flowers in summer and rich red berries in autumn and winter. It also makes an excellent hedge plant if you keep it pruned and trimmed. To get ample berries and attract cedar waxwings and more to your terrace make sure to get a male and a female plant.

June berry: This tree/shrub is so named for its load of antioxidant rich summer time fruit. Depending on the species, it can grow up to 10 feet tall. A member of the rose family, its sparse, delicate flowers resemble those of its close cousin, the apple. The fruits are abundant on roofs where sun is plentiful and if they don’t all get eaten by birds, make great fruit leather, or pie!

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