Faulkner Japanese Boxwood Cone

Nothing brings a look of classic beauty to a garden faster and more effectively than clipped boxwood. We decided to help you get started even sooner, by having our nursery staff create some boxwood cones that are already shaped, and just waiting for your guiding hand and some time to finish them off. Already clipped into low cones, they have developed the necessary dense internal growth that gives the best topiary forms – long-lasting and not likely to break open. Perfect for conical accents at the corners of beds, inside beds, as pairs framing a step or door, or in pots, these fabulous plants are already well on the way to being wonderful garden features. Made from a naturally-dense variety of Japanese boxwood, they are not only tightly branched and solid, with tiny leaves, they are more cold-resistant and generally much hardier than the old English boxwood that is still offered at discount prices – almost guaranteed to give you problems with winter damage and insects, unless you live in exactly the right small part of the country where that European tree will grow well. For colder zones the Faulkner Boxwood Cone is ideal, and in hot and humid areas too. It grows well across a range of soil conditions and in different light levels. All you have to do is keep trimming as it grows, until you have the perfect plants you can already see in your mind’s eye, giving your garden that wonderful formal look that is as much a feature of classic American gardens as it is of English and European ones. Capture that classic look for yourself – it’s easy because we have already given you a flying start.

Growing the Faulkner Japanese Boxwood Cone

Size and Appearance

The Faulkner Japanese Boxwood is a selection of a very hardy species of Asian boxwood. It is evergreen, with a compact, densely-branched form and small leaves, usually about ½ inch long, and never more than ¾ inch across. These are glossy, smooth, slightly leathery and a lovely dark emerald-green. Younger leaves on new growth are brighter green until they mature. We chose this variety for our landscapers to clip because it is one of the most ‘clippable’ of all boxwoods. It doesn’t die back after hard trimming, and re-sprouts rapidly, and with many dense branches. Naturally growing 3 or 4 feet tall and just a couple of feet wide, you can raise your cone to at least 4 feet in time, and keep it as slender and tight as you wish. In cold zones the leaves can take on an attractive bronzy winter look, which disappears once the warm weather comes, giving you bright, deep-green cones again.

Using the Faulkner Japanese Boxwood Cone in Your Garden

Boxwood cones are perfect accents in beds, or use them at the corners of clipped boxwood hedges for a wonderful formal look. Although started as low cones, these plants can be transformed into perfect spheres, spirals, pyramids and other topiary shapes of your choosing. Grow them as bed accents, in pairs flanking steps, gates or doors, or in planter boxes from zone 7 and into warmer areas.

Hardiness

The Faulkner Japanese Boxwood grows well from zone 5 into zone 9, but it is at the ends of that range, in the cold winters of zone 5, and the heat and humidity of zone 9 in the southeast, that it really excels, and leaves the English boxwood in the dust. This type of boxwood is definitely the most reliable choice for American gardens.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The Faulkner Japanese Boxwood thrives in full sun and partial shade, appreciating some afternoon shade when in hot, dry gardens. It also tolerates light full shade, such as beneath large deciduous trees, but it may grow a little less densely – give your cones plenty of light for that. Almost any well-drained soil will support good growth, but avoid areas that are constantly wet, which it doesn’t like. Once you have been growing it for a couple of seasons it will take ordinary dry conditions in summer, but always appreciates a slow, deep soak.

Maintenance and Pruning

All boxwoods can be affected by pests or diseases, but if you feed your Faulkner Japanese Boxwood regularly and don’t leave it dry for too long, you should have no serious issues. Deer don’t bother with it, and it’s easy to grow. Trim between early spring and early fall. You can trim before the new growth emerges, but it is better to wait for it to grow out and darken in color a little before that first trim of the year. Continue trimming as needed, finishing in early fall so that any late growth has matured before winter comes. The more you trim, the denser and tighter your cones will be. Use a sharp pair of topiary shears rather than hedge-trimmers. You will get a much better result, and it’s a fun skill once you get the knack.

History and Origin of the Faulkner Japanese Boxwood Cone

The Faulkner Japanese Boxwood is a special form of the Japanese boxwood, Buxus microphylla var. japonica. This species is the most cold-resistant of all boxwood, and Faulkner is placed in the hardiest group of varieties – so you know it will survive winter. We don’t know much about its origins, but it seems to have been found in Europe or England, and was mentioned for the first time in 1992.

Buying the Faulkner Japanese Boxwood Cone at the Tree Center

The Faulkner Japanese Boxwood is so good it won the coveted Award of Garden Merit in 2012 from the Royal Horticultural Society of England – the highest honor. It is one of only four boxwoods to ever receive that award. With the added value of the careful training our growers have done to turn it into charming cones, these are plants of the highest quality. Now you can instantly set your garden on the road to classic perfection – order now, while we still have plants available.