a lot of the tan dead looking plants around adrian and tecumseh are severely damaged boxwood ... right this minute ..

as you drive around.. see if you can spot them in your area ..

this winter was extreme.. but its a thought ...

part of that info is to suggest.. you do not plant a monoculture... on type of plant.. in volume.. just in case it happens again ...

ken

I've been thinking about doing the same thing for the same reason. What has been holding me back, though, is that boxwood is fairly picky about siting. It needs winter shade, and also a location sheltered from wind. Otherwise, it will burn and look every bit as bad as the yews.

Green Mountain seems to be getting taller than you want. It also is very conical. I have something that was simply labelled Buxus koreana that is shorter than the Green Mountain, and with a more spreading habit. But I don't have a better idea what it really is.

I've got an unsheared 'Green Velvet' in full winter sun. It becomes "everorange" instead of evergreen, but has lasted through subzero droughts with no damage year after year. Tough cookie.

Thanks for the input. I'm not replacing all of the yews with boxwood, just two sections of them - the other yews are being replaced with something else.

I'm hopeful that the siting of the boxwood will work out for them, they are on the east side of the house and will be more protected than many of the other winter damaged boxwood I've seen around.

Hortster, how many years have you had your Green Velvet and how tall is it?

Planted over 10 years ago, can't remember the year it was planted. Slow grower. This one used to be in mostly shade but I lost the tree, so now only gets a small amount of afternoon shade in summer, no shade in winter. I noticed that it was beginning to shed some of its oldest foliage inside as it puts on new for the season. It is about the same width as height.

We bought Green Mountain because we're shaping it into spiral topiary. But the nursery told us that that brand sells more than any other boxwood they carry. We are in the Pacific Northwest, Zone 6. If that helps. It's very compact and beautiful. But maybe you don't want the conical shape. I don't know if they're all like that or whether they use that brand for topiary because of its shape.