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Fair points, do you think boxwoods are more of a risky one to plant in the fall compared to other plants? I've never grown them, but looking into them more, they're generally only hardy to zone 5, which is what most of SE Nebraska is rated as. I think for hardier plants like rhubarb, red osier, bush honeysuckle, spruce, white pine, etc they'd probably do ok planted in August, but maybe boxwoods are more vulnerable?
I think boxwoods are more risky to plant in summer or fall in Nebraska. That's my focus on behalf of the OP. Not necessarily talking about possible risks of planting boxwoods in summer or fall in any other states/locations throughout continental North America.
OP is apparently a recent transplant from Texas to Nebraska and may or might not be fully familiarized yet with the types of desiccating winters and summers that can happen in Nebraska. I do know that Nebraska is prone to very desiccating windy winters because of its geographical location and its topography and boxwood, being such a shallow rooted plant, is highly vulnerable to desiccating winter winds even when the roots are already very well established in the soil. Here in this instance we're talking about unestablished plants. I don't think they'll survive if they're planted before spring.
It's not only the roots of boxwoods that are vulnerable to desiccation, it's the entire plants - roots, branches, twigs, leaves. When the fleshy boxwood leaves turn coppery or brown from exposure to desiccating winds it's called "bronzing" and those bronzed leaves have become so dehydrated they usually will die and it will take longer for them to be replaced by new growth if the shrub is lucky enough that the branches they're on have not also become dehydrated. If all the leaves are bronzed chances are the twigs or branches they're on have also become desiccated and may have been killed.
So all I'm saying is if he really wants to plant boxwoods in Nebraska he should give his new boxwood transplants at least half a fighting chance to survive by giving them the time (in this case 8 - 9 months to start) that they need to become even partially established before being confronted with Nebraska's winter desiccation during a time while they're semi-dormant and not circulating much sap and prone to becoming brittle stemmed. I think if he plants them between now and early next spring the likelihood of them perishing before spring arrives is very high. Very high. He should wait until early spring to plant them and should ensure that they have all the correct soil conditions that boxwood roots need. He needs to study up on what boxwoods need.
On the other hand, the OP mentioned maybe planting juniper as a low ground cover and that should do admirably well in Nebraska's desiccating environment and may actually help to protect other plants that are in or very near the same garden beds that the juniper is in.
In the Fall its not about getting the plant to mature before winter, its about getting the roots to get established and used to the soil. Come spring, Boom.
Just make sure you get instructions from where you are buying the plants from regarding fertilizing. Usually I dont fertilize after a transplant.
There should also be a county extension agent in your area. Nebraska has an online county extension finder. Nebraska also has a Master Gardener Program and should be able to provide some expert advice as well.
It takes about 90 days of warm weather (day/night) for the plants to establish themselveS and another 60 days to reall take hold. Spring would be ideal because if you have a very harsh winter those plants may not recover.
I would wait til spring in Nebraska. Here in the south, I’ll be planting some rose bushes in September. It will still be warm, but not blistering hot, for 3 months or so. Even then there won’t be a frost until January.
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