Boxwood Hedge

For my birthday my mom sent me 20 small boxwood plants from the nursery just a few blocks away from their house. My lavender hedge never lasted through a Missouri winter but when I decided to shift to boxwood, the prices left me a little shell shocked. This nursery used to cater just to landscapers but eventually yielded to requests from passersby and opened the gates to everyone. For a mere $3 bucks a box, it seemed liked a pretty good deal.

She gave them a good watering, removed the pots, wrapped each plant in strong plastic wrap and shipped them to us.

It took just a bit of math to figure out the spacing.

We’ll likely pull out some grass next spring when we line the beds with brick so they’ll have more room to grow but with cold weather on the way, we just wanted to get them in the ground.

We added a liberal layer of mulch in preparation for the winter.

We gave them a few days in the sun to acclimatize and then started winterizing.

I don’t often use straw in the garden since you have to remove it again in spring but it seemed like the best way to insulate the new plants.

Jonathan rigged wire hoops down the length of the walkway. We didn’t even think about how Wyatt would manage but decided if he wanted to hang out in the front yard, he’d just have to jump.

The covers are supposed to keep plants 15 to 20 degrees warmer—a friend who farms assured me they work.

The final product. We’ll keep an eye on it throughout the season to make sure the boxwood get enough water and don’t overheat.

The boys review their handiwork from the porch.

The temperature had been dropping through the day and even Wyatt was getting cold. Not two days later it snowed and nighttime temperatures dropped to 20 degrees. We all expected at least a few more weeks of fall but we did our best.