Sprinter^® Boxwood Buxus microphylla

I am a landscape designer I bought 7, gallon-sized sprinters from a local nursery in March 2022 for my own yard. By early summer I started noticing spider mite damage. I diligently sprayed with neem oil every week, and and when that didn't work I alternated between neem oil and bio-advanced miticide. I continued to spray occasionally throughout the winter. This spring it was clear that four of the boxwoods were beyond saving. I spent nearly $200 replacing those four boxwoods. I continued to spray and monitor the remaining three sprinters. This past week I could see the remaining three sprinters had some new growth and all of it was stippled with spider mite damage. growth all has spider mite damage. I also saw damage on the new growth of my four new sprinters. I figured they had been infected by my old boxwoods. However, as I inspected them I discovered well-developed mite webbing deep inside the shrubs. I believe these proven winners shrubs must have arrived at the nursery infected with spider mites. I have winter gem boxwoods in my yard that still have no spider might damage despite the close proximity to the sprinters. It seems sprinters are especially susceptible to spider mites. I regret that I have previously specified sprinter boxwoods to clients on planting plans. Obviously I will no longer be recommending this cultivar. I noticed in a recent Garden Answer YouTube post, Laura mentioned her favorite boxwoods were Green mountain and North Star. I was shocked that she didn't talk about sprinters as she used to frequently sing their praises. In the recent Garden tour post she said that North star and Green mountain were the only varieties she had not battled spider mites. So I think she has been dealing with the same issues.

I planted four sprinter boxwood (one gallon size) last spring. They have almost doubled in size and despite being located in a windy non protected location they suffered just a bit of wind burn on the tips this past winter. Note to the reader who fertilized with Hollytone, boxwoods shoud not be fertilized with Hollytone. A fertilizer such as Plant Tone should be used instead. Could this contribute to the bronzing problem?

I bought about 30 of the Sprinter Boxwoods in spring 2018 after learning about them on Laura LeBoutillier’s Garden Answer YouTube channel. They have definitely grown quite a bit since then. Due to their expensive price, I ordered the smallest size, they were barely 4” tall when they arrived in the Mail. Today, 3.5 year later, they have grown to about 14” tall and wide. I planted them about 18” apart because I was anxious to form a hedge asap. It has pretty much filled in by now, so I am pleased with the growth rate, it is performing as promised. My only issue with this plant is that it does bronze in the winter. It is getting more pronounced as the years go by. During the first winter, only a couple of plants turned bronze—and only in small parts of the plant, not the entire shrub. This winter, each of the plants has already turned bronze in about 80% of the plant. They do bounce back to a healthy deep green in the spring, but I just wanted to point this out, as this does not match the description. Overall, it is a wonderful, hardy plant. P.S. I fertilize with Holly Tone early spring and water as needed.

I ordered 6 Sprinter boxwoods (quart size) and planted them upon receipt in fall of 2020. I was impressed with the extensive, healthy root systems on all 6 plants. Three are planted in part sun and three are planted in shade. They overwintered beautifully and have already doubled in size as of June 2021. I will definitely be ordering more in the future. Note: I was planting around tree roots, so I really appreciated being able to get smaller, quart-size specimens for planting. This size is never available at my local garden centers.