I planted my boxwood hedge last summer (consisting of about 40 boxwoods)---goodness I can't imagine 300! I have to laugh at how much you sound like me though.... Ah, how we drive the husbands crazy eh? I have to ask, how are you pruning them at this point? Are you keeping the rounded shape? Mine are still round balls about a foot from touching, so I've been lightly pruning them, but haven't started boxing them in at all yet. I've read about the stake and string method, and to make sure not to go straight down, but rather have the top be a bit more narrow than the bottom. When is the right time to start that shape? I was waiting until they grew together, but the above comment about not having a dense shrub worried me. My neighbor's boxwoods are 5 years old and have not been pruned much (she likes them to be more natural) and I did notice the other day how open they are inside compared to mine that seem more tightly packed. I don't want to lose that! Sorry to tag along on your thread here, but I am also anxious to hear the advice you receive! :) Oh, and I would love to see pictures as well!~ To post a picture, go to photbucket.com and upload your picture. Once the photo is uploaded onto the site, click the picture, and then click and paste the HTML code onto the text here.

I have no experience with pincushion, but I have both green gem and green velvet. Green gem has a very tight compact rounded habit. It is feasible to use these as a hedge, they take to trimming well. I have them in both forms - as stand alone specimens and as a continuous hedge, and both do equally well. Green velvet grows larger for me, and has a nice mounded form to it without any leggy base - it keeps the mounded form all the way to the ground - I have one on the northeast corner of my house as a foundation planting and it's just beautiful. My 6-7 year specimen is maybe 4-5 feet wide at the base, but again boxwood are very forgiving and respond well to trimming to the size you'd like to maintain. I try not to trim past mid June for my zone, to give it time to harden off for the winter. In my opinion, I'd use green gem either as a continuous hedge or as a onesey in a smaller space. I think the green velvets have a softer form to them. For foundation plantings, and depending on how much space you have, you might want to consider green velvet as they grow larger and will fill in nicely in time, with a nice mounded form rather than a roundish ball habit that the green gems have (though equally nice, just a matter of personal taste). Just remember to clean out any fallen leaves from nearby trees from the inner part of the plant in the spring. Too much debris in the interior can cause the plant to lose foliage. Also, cover them in the winter with pine sprigs or wrap in burlap - they'll appreciate the protection from winter sun. Give a nice deep watering mid November before it goes dormant for the winter. Come spring you'll be rewarded with beautiful boxwood. More info than you asked...hopefully this helps.

Yes, flats are probable the best way to go. Are you doing hardwood or softwood cuttings? Feel free to e-mail me with any of your questions. Either way, 2 flats should be plenty. Bottom heat is so important, especially in the winter months. Since you are using flats I would get heating pads instead of the cables. If you were doing a good bit more than you could buy a twin size water bed heater w/ a build in adjustable thermostat for really really cheap! There are a couple of options. If you want pictures and good literature to read on the subject, go to the website link below this post, it has a wealth of imformation for free. He also has tons of movies and photos on this subject too! Here is a link that might be useful: Here's the link to Freeplants.com!

Oh Okay, I didn't know that. Yes it appears it hasn't grown at all. We have lived here 3 yrs, the ppl before us 2 yrs and the original owners lived here for 8 yrs. We assume the original owners put in the boxwoods since they built they house. These boxwoods are in full shade and I just love them! I want to line the front of the house with them since we do not have anything covering the deck space between the ground and bottom of deck. Its just too hard to put lattice in this space. The two boxwoods we have do a great job of covering that space. Thank you so much for the information. ; )