That depends ... if you put the boxwoods inside the fence, you'd have to walk around the outside of the fence to see if anything has happened to it over time. I know that Aluminum fences are pretty hardy, but still ...

Also, if you put the boxwoods inside the fenceline then the dogs are likely to wear a path between the shrubs and the fence as they check their perimeter. Most dogs like to (or need to) run the perimeter every day. It's part of being a dog, I think. Having the boxwoods inside the fence makes it easier to mow the area between the boxwoods & the fence, which is a plus. However, having the boxwoods OUTside the fence means that in time, if that strip gets weedy no one will see it but you (so you can let it slide if life gets crazy busy).

I'd put the fence inside, myself. I think the boxwoods would be prettier to look at from inside my yard, but I'd want to be sure my dog hasn't suddenly tried to tunnel to freedom (he can dig a mean hole if he sniffs out a mole, if he ever used his talents against the fence ...). I also think that from the outside, the double whammy of 5' aluminum fence + 5' thick hedge might look unfriendly. But I also think 6' stockade fences look unfriendly, which is why we went with a 5' cedar picket with 1" spacings on the side facing the street (and black chain link everywhere else b/c it was so much cheaper).

Either one will look great, though. I love aluminum fences, we would have gotten one if we didn't also need to cat-proof the yard.

pam29011, that was very helpful. Thank you!!! OK. I'll put the boxwood on the OUTside and the aluminum fence on the INside of our property. There will be about7 feet from the property edge to the aluminum fence. Let me know if that sounds about right or whether you'd leave more or less space.

What about maintenance? Will you be trimming the hedge?

Missingtheobvious, I will be trimming the hedge, so I think the following schematic would work. My assumption is that boxwood grows to a width of 3 feet. I'll need a minimum 2 feet to trim the boxwood and still stay on my property line.

A - perimeter of property
----4 ft width
B - boxwood planting
----3 ft width
C - aluminum fence

How would you change these schematics?

I was just wondering how you planned to handle the issue of trimming space.

My assumption is that boxwood grows to a width of 3 feet. There are boxwood cultivars of all sizes. Many or most, untrimmed, will be wider than 3'.

Missingtheobvious, thank you for commenting on my post. You're absolutely right that boxwood cultivars come in all sizes, so I'll need to choose one carefully. Choosing the future layout of a fence is more difficult than I realized, so I'm grateful for everyone's input.