Boxwoods That Don't Smell

Green Beauty

• Green Beauty can grow in full sun, but it prefers light shade, if possible, and it can grow in clay soil. This boxwood can reach up to 4 feet in height and has a spread potential of 5 feet. Grow Green Beauty boxwoods in planting zones 6 through 8, especially if you need a hedge that's deer resistant. You will need to prune this boxwood in late winter, especially when it's a juvenile boxwood.

Justin Brouwers and John Baldwin

• The Justin Brouwers boxwood is favored by the likes of the White House and Mount Vernon due to its more compact size -- it grows about 2 feet tall, and as wide -- and its finer textured leaves. The John Baldwin, however, grows much larger in height (over 6 feet) and width (more than 3 feet). The John Baldwin is finely textured and has a wider base and pointer top than the Justin Brouwer. Both boxwoods will grow in hardiness zones 6 through 8, and Brouwer favors moister soils, with Baldwin needing good draining soil. Both boxwoods benefit from a little shade (but it's not required) and both require pruning as juveniles, with Baldwin requiring it after maturing, too.

Dee Runk and Fastigiata

• Plant Dee Runk boxwoods if a pyramid-shaped boxer is of interest for your landscape and you don't mind a skinny bush, growing a maximum of 2 feet wide. Height for this boxwood can potentially reach 9 feet, however. You won't have to protect this hedge by wrapping it before snow time, so that's an added incentive. Use this boxwood where you need a tall screen with not as much width. Like Dee Runk, Fastigiata is a tall hedge screen that doesn't have a scent, but it offers a wider hedge, growing as much as 3 feet in width. Plant your Dee Runk and Fastigiata in hardiness planting zones 6 through 8.

Vardar Valley

• Blue-color lovers residing in hardiness planting zones 5 through 8 will want the Vardar Valley boxwood, which is a boxwood that's been around for a while, and begins the season with a blue cast to the green foliage, turning a powder blue by early May. You can see this variety of boxwood at the White House, and it makes a great holiday decoration plant as well as a foundation plant for your landscape. Prune it as a juvenile in late winter, provide some shade for it, if possible, and ensure you have good draining soil for this boxwood type.