I planted an Issai beautyberry this year which was very late to bloom, and when it did bloom and then fruit, the fruits were so small they couldn't be seen unless you were standing right next to the shrub. The other day I went to a nursery for something else and they had Early Amethyst and Profusion beautyberry shrubs that had much more fruit on them. The Profusion fruits were really big, and the Early Amethyst fruits, while considerably smaller, were really numerous. I didn't buy either shrub at the time (though I was tempted) because I wanted to check with more knowledgeable people about my Issai, especially since it was newly planted this year. Is it possible that all it needs is time (another season) before it will put out more and bigger fruit? I know it's not likely to bloom as early as Early Amethyst, but the whole point of choosing beautyberry was to enjoy the sight of those beautiful berries! Should I go back to the nursery and buy and then switch the Early Amethyst? Or just be patient and wait another year to see if my shrub blooms earlier and with larger and more berries next fall?

" I do feel though (plz let me say this just once..) that they look like prison facilities." (edit: I caught ltonk before he or she made an edit. But that's a fine opinion to express if you're not used to the look, which, clearly most people in the US wouldn't be) Well, obviously, the British aristocracy would disagree with you. I don't see any razor wire fences, guard towers, concrete block batiments, etc. Are you sure you've actually seen a prison in your life? FWIW the first picture is the back of Castle Howard, here's a better overview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/3624511.stm Of course the ones that actually _were_ castles were in a sense a reverse prison at one time. But I don't think that's the reasoning behind the way they may or may not be planted. I think it's more a mindset about what landscaping, gardening, and architecture all actually are, and mean. There's an utterly fascinating essay I have somewhere...unfortunately I've downloaded 1000s of pdf files of interesting articles and papers over the years, and it's hard to find one I need at a moment's notice - about the history of the concept of "culture" vis-a-vis horticulture. How "culture[d]" and "horticulture" are inexorably intertwined. Basic point is gardens always started out with a utilitarian goal in mind, but their cultural effect was recognized early on. (hanging gardens of babylon, etc) I think to really pull out occam's razor and slash this one open if I may mix metaphors, to put greens in front of one's castle would have implied one had nowhere else to grow one's food. Or something like that. Funny that you said thatthough, as, even though I'm a bit of an anglophile and certainly a fan of English gardening culture, I was reflecting recently that such stately homes, lovely as they are, reflect the "prison" that pre-20th century society was for those who were not in the gentry and aristocracy. You could only build such places without modern machinery and run them efficiently when labor was incredibly cheap and expendable. With the # of recent examples of these piles turning back into what they once were...i.e., fully private homes that don't even need the revenue of visitors, you have to worry whether the world hasn't turned back that way a wee bit. But let's not get into economic policy. That would make a real OT mess. The two I know about are Leonardslee, the Loder Estate - home of one of the most famous collections of rhododendrons in the world - and Torosay Castle, but I'm sure I've read of at least one other in the past few years. This post was edited by davidrt28 on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 23:22

Thanks (everyone) for the feedback- very helpful. Some additional details below: So, Math was never my favorite subject. I went out back and measured the distance of the fence from corner to gate (which is where the privacy is really needed). We're at 28 feet total. To get to the young maple (which is a natural transition point) it's 20 feet. So, we're looking at the hedge being somewhere between 20-28 feet depending on how we want to taper/transition. The Boxwoods are about 1.5' wide. I'm thinking we will space them about 10" apart...that should give us coverage along the fence with a little wiggle room. It will add a bunch of immediate privacy and some room for the hedge to establish and then connect...and it sounds like a season or two should do the trick. Once we transplant the current grasses/plants and remove some pavers, we should have a width of about 6 feet to work with, reduced to about 4.5 feet at the Hydrangeas. Hoping this is enough space for the hedge and to texture some plants in front. Specific to the responses above: Steve- good thoughts on spacing and thanks for the Geranium and Hosta suggestions. We have a lot of Hosta in our front and sprinkled through the back. We will definitely use that to complement the boxwood hedge. The raised bed idea was two-fold: improve drainage for the hedge and make sure they don't compete/hurt the Hydrangeas. I was thinking a base of peastone/gravel before backfilling the bed would solve both problems (but making sure the depth of the backfill matched the current depth of the boxwood pots). We'll religiously trim the boxwoods as the current height works for us (another foot would be OK too). Beyond that, I'd need a ladder to trim and would like to avoid it...realize this may be a pipe dream after a few years, even with regular trimming? Digger- the Boxwoods are Common/European (Buxus Sempervirens). Based on the feedback here, I will space them a bit and get closer to your 18" on center suggestion. We brought the Boxwoods home last Sunday. Haven't watered them yet since we've had ample rain. It doesn't sound like watering the pots will be neccessary unless we hit a dry spell...and that seems unlikely with the New England spring forecast. I'll keep checking the root balls...I was going to build the raised bed using pressure treated 4x4 for the posts (sunk in ground). 2x4 treated cedar for the side boards. I was planning on building the box without digging down and sinking any of the cedar. We're on a light slope so I'd build the top of the box first, elevate it and level using wood blocks, then skill saw tapered pieces to ground level to run with the grade. Remove the blocks once secured. Add some aluminum spanners throughout to prevent bowing and backfill the bad boy. Final depth would be slightly above the depth of the pots in order to put drainage stone on the bottom and backfill with dirt. We run soaker hoses throughout the garden to handle watering...as far as the boxwoods themselves, we looked at nurseries, but couldn't find anything in the 6' range for under $400/piece. We found the current ones at Home Depot for $99. Still cost us a fair amount, but seemed reasonable for an instant 6-7" privacy hedge. The boxwoods themselves came from a nursery in CT. I suspect you could contact your local HD and make a request for however many you want...that's what we did (Waltham store). Thanks for the VT boxwood link too! Oracle- I didn't even consider the sunlight factor or wider bottom versus top. More reason to space them further apart. As I mentioned above, we're more like 20-28 feet in needed privacy, so the 10 boxwoods should balance better. We can certainly return some if all 10 aren't needed. Thoughts on a distance from the fence? We have 6 feet to work with for most of the hedge row, but we'd like to add some plants/shrubs in front to layer the garden. The Hydrangeas are 4.5 feet from the fence to center and we don't want to touch those...so we're tighter on space for about 8 feet of the boxwoods that will sit behind the hydrangeas. Do you think the boxwoods will hurt the well established hydrangeas given our space constraints? The berm idea is also interesting. I like the idea of less work, particularly if it provides a healthier environment. No standing water in the garden area. We're not bothered by the Boxwood smell, aside from the 'cat pee' driving our dogs wild. They'll be thrilled. Can't wait to chase them out of the gardens on a regular basis this summer... Based on the feedback so far, maybe the raised bed is overkill. Yes, it would look nice but it will take some time/money to build and there is a benefit to getting these in the ground sooner. How about Oracle's berm idea? It would add some texture to the garden and presumably help with drainage too. More than anything, I want to make sure we don't hurt the Hydrangeas. It would be a real bummer if the boxwood row doesn't take well, but I'd much prefer that over having the boxwoods thrive at the expense of the hydrangeas. Attached is a picture that gives a sense as to the current spacing between the fence and hydrangeas...you can see the fence line at the bottom left corner. Thanks again for all the suggestions. Would welcome any additional thoughts.

Dee, I have 'Green Mountain' which I bought a few of from Bluestone, too. And I have the Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa' that I bought locally many years ago. Love those too, they're so slow growing. Then I have a third variety that I've forgotten the name of. I have to prune the NOID boxwood which is just two individual plants, but the Suffruticosa has fit perfectly on either side of the front steps and not needed pruning. But I do get those cupped leaves that I end up having to prune off. The 'Green Mountain' I hope to not have to prune. I really love boxwood and would love to get more varieties at some point. But a new blight makes me hesitate a little. We used to have an old hedge that was tall and had to be pruned twice a summer. HATED that hedge. Ripped the whole thing out. We have a Maple that rains down helicopters that seem to all germinate every spring and that hedge was always full of Maple seedlings and if you missed a few, they'd be the devil to get out. But your application around a small bed with dwarfs sounds so great! I'm sorry you've had this problem now. What about the soil they were growing in? Is there a chance if you plant new ones, they will get the same blight? Is the blight soil borne or air borne? You might want to call Bluestone and let them know what happened to your plants. They have such a great guarantee, maybe they would replace them for you? I've never tried sticking boxwood cuttings into the ground. I use a large sweater box, that is opaque actually and the cover is solid and I fill it with a mix of 3/4 sand and 1/4 soil and just stick them in there and water them and in about 3 weeks they are rooted and I pot them up and let them hang around with the rest of the pots until they're big enough to use. I love to propagate, but I don't always take time to, there's so many other things that have to be done. And yes, Bluestone used to be so inexpensive it was worth it to just pick up some on a sale. I found another source for small boxwood plants, I think they were under $6. per plant. I'd have to look up the name if you are interested, let me know. javaandjazz, I considered getting those 'Graham Blandy's and went with the Ilex 'Sky Pencil'. I would have been happy with either, but the 'Sky Pencil' was available and on sale. Both are very interesting accents. This post was edited by prairiemoon2 on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 9:26