{"id":4535,"date":"2016-03-22T12:25:59","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T12:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4535"},"modified":"2023-10-24T12:07:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T12:07:31","slug":"ilex-crenata-box-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"The practical alternative to box hedge – Ilex Crenata"},"content":{"rendered":"

For centuries, English Boxwood (Buxus Sempervirens) has been one of our favourite garden plants. Extremely versatile, Box has so many uses in the garden as a superb structural, evergreen plant. So much so, it is difficult to see how we can move on from the devastating development of this most irritating of fungi. Because of Box Blight, our lovely boxwood now is becoming increasingly hard to protect without the constant use of fungicides. And sadly, the future does not look good. At present, there is no known blight resistant variety of Buxus available. The Box Blight fungus causes the leaves to become brown spotted and fall off, leaving the stems of the plant devastatingly bare. Not a pretty sight!<\/p>\n

What to do?<\/strong> <\/em>
\nHarsh as it may sound, the answer is to stop growing Boxwood in our opinion and remove any infected plants from your garden as they will never really recover from an attack. Ilex Crenata is not just a good alternative to box hedge, in many ways it is a superior plant<\/p>\n

\"Ilex

Ilex Crenata, in our view, the best alternative to Box Hedge, close up of the leaves<\/p><\/div>\n


\nMeet Ilex Crenata<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em>
\nNative to Japan, Ilex Crenata<\/a>, also known as Japanese Holly or box-leaved holly, looks very similar indeed to Buxus Sempervirens, but if you look closely, you will see a crenate (scalloped) margin.<\/p>\n

Ilex Crenata<\/a> is low maintenance and slow growing. It really is an easy plant to grow and is not prone to the problems that occur with our beloved Buxus. Making topiary<\/a> or creating shapes is really where this plant comes into its own but it also looks very effective as low to medium height hedge. It is hardy and handsome with its lovely light green new growth, offsetting the darker green of the older foliage. Most of us will know Ilex Crenata as the plant used to create spectacular cloud trees <\/a>crafted in the ancient Japanese Niwaki style<\/a>. But there is much more to Japanese Holly<\/a> than that! Our Ilex Crenata topiary<\/a> collection offers lots of choice, including Ilex Crenata balls<\/a>, Ilex Crenata Spirals<\/a> and Ilex Crenata Lollipops<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Alternative

Alternative to Box Hedge or Topiary – Ilex Crenata Topiary Balls<\/p><\/div>\n

We have Ilex Crenata for hedging<\/a> in many shapes and sizes including Ilex Crenata Convexa<\/a> and smaller Ilex Crenata hedging plants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For a more decorative option, Ilex Crenata Topiary Pom Pom<\/a>.\u00a0This just illustrates how versatile these plants are.<\/p>\n

\"Ilex

Ilex Crenata, in our view, the best alternative to Box Hedge, pictured here as Niwaki-style Cloud Trees<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Alternative

Alternative to Box Topiary – Ilex Crenata won\u2019t catch blight<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For centuries, English Boxwood (Buxus Sempervirens) has been one of our favourite garden plants. Extremely versatile, Box has so many uses in the garden as a superb structural, evergreen plant. So much so, it is difficult to see how we can move on from the devastating development of this most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[157,183,63],"class_list":["post-4535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardening-tips","tag-buxus-sempervirens","tag-ilex-crenata","tag-japanese-holly"],"yoast_head":"\nIlex Crenata - Best Alternative to Box Hedge for UK Gardens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hardy Ilex Crenata or Japanese Holly is not just a good alternative to box hedge. In many ways it is a superior plant to Boxwood.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The practical alternative to box hedge - Ilex Crenata\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hardy Ilex Crenata or Japanese Holly is not just a good alternative to box hedge. In many ways it is a superior plant to Boxwood.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paramount Plants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paramountplants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-22T12:25:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-24T12:07:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"475\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paramount Plants\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@paramountplants\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@paramountplants\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paramount Plants\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paramount Plants\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d880f199d304704ce58ed4212b56c259\"},\"headline\":\"The practical alternative to box hedge – Ilex Crenata\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-22T12:25:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-24T12:07:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Buxus sempervirens\",\"ilex crenata\",\"Japanese Holly\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gardening Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/\",\"name\":\"Ilex Crenata - Best Alternative to Box Hedge for UK Gardens\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-22T12:25:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-24T12:07:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"Hardy Ilex Crenata or Japanese Holly is not just a good alternative to box hedge. In many ways it is a superior plant to Boxwood.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":475,\"caption\":\"Ilex Crenata, in our view, the best alternative to Box, close up of the leaves\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The practical alternative to box hedge – Ilex Crenata\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Paramount Plants\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Paramount Plants and Gardens\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/blog-top-banner-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/blog-top-banner-image.jpg\",\"width\":940,\"height\":198,\"caption\":\"Paramount Plants and Gardens\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paramountplants\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/paramountplants\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/paramountplants\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/plantsandgardenslucasmariconda\",\"https:\/\/nl.pinterest.com\/paramountplants\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/paramountplants\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d880f199d304704ce58ed4212b56c259\",\"name\":\"Paramount Plants\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9591b31ab28e0f09cd7248d91faf077cf331fe5d6efbc51d856b1381b4ddc57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9591b31ab28e0f09cd7248d91faf077cf331fe5d6efbc51d856b1381b4ddc57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paramount Plants\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ilex Crenata - Best Alternative to Box Hedge for UK Gardens","description":"Hardy Ilex Crenata or Japanese Holly is not just a good alternative to box hedge. In many ways it is a superior plant to Boxwood.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The practical alternative to box hedge - Ilex Crenata","og_description":"Hardy Ilex Crenata or Japanese Holly is not just a good alternative to box hedge. In many ways it is a superior plant to Boxwood.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/","og_site_name":"Paramount Plants","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paramountplants","article_published_time":"2016-03-22T12:25:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-24T12:07:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":475,"url":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paramount Plants","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@paramountplants","twitter_site":"@paramountplants","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paramount Plants","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/"},"author":{"name":"Paramount Plants","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d880f199d304704ce58ed4212b56c259"},"headline":"The practical alternative to box hedge – Ilex Crenata","datePublished":"2016-03-22T12:25:59+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-24T12:07:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/"},"wordCount":468,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg","keywords":["Buxus sempervirens","ilex crenata","Japanese Holly"],"articleSection":["Gardening Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/","url":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/","name":"Ilex Crenata - Best Alternative to Box Hedge for UK Gardens","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-22T12:25:59+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-24T12:07:31+00:00","description":"Hardy Ilex Crenata or Japanese Holly is not just a good alternative to box hedge. In many ways it is a superior plant to Boxwood.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ilex-crenata-bush.jpg","width":700,"height":475,"caption":"Ilex Crenata, in our view, the best alternative to Box, close up of the leaves"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/ilex-crenata-box-alternative\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The practical alternative to box hedge – Ilex Crenata"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"Paramount Plants","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#organization","name":"Paramount Plants and Gardens","url":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/blog-top-banner-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/blog-top-banner-image.jpg","width":940,"height":198,"caption":"Paramount Plants and Gardens"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paramountplants","https:\/\/x.com\/paramountplants","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/paramountplants\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/plantsandgardenslucasmariconda","https:\/\/nl.pinterest.com\/paramountplants\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/paramountplants"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d880f199d304704ce58ed4212b56c259","name":"Paramount Plants","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9591b31ab28e0f09cd7248d91faf077cf331fe5d6efbc51d856b1381b4ddc57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9591b31ab28e0f09cd7248d91faf077cf331fe5d6efbc51d856b1381b4ddc57f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paramount Plants"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8390,"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535\/revisions\/8390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paramountplants.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}