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Selecting Landscape Plants: Boxwoods

ID

426-603 (HORT-290P)

Authors as Published

Alex X. Niemiera, Associate Professor, Horticulture, Virginia Tech


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Humans have been using boxwoods for about 6,000 years. The name boxwood is derived from the ancient Greeks. Later, the Romans crafted small, elegant boxes from the heavy, fine-grained wood that women used to store valuables. The wood has also been used for musical instruments, writing tablets, combs, carved ornaments, and images, among other uses. The first garden use of boxwood occurred in about 4,000 B.C. by Egyptians who maintained clipped boxwood hedges.

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Publication Date

August 2, 2023