Topiary goes back as far as Ancient Rome, but for the last 200 years, the British Isles have been the principal home for the art. It is a fascinating craft bound to gain your interest and respect.
In this country, the topiary is reviving, as is Bonsai—both crafts require patient, individualistic skills.
If you plan topiaries, choose a plant with a straight, upright trunk and a round or parasol-shaped head of foliage.
Evergreens or many deciduous plants may be used. Korean lilacs, Cotoneaster praecox, Azalea, Althaea, and Norway maple make handsome standards.
The technique consists of grafting a head onto a straight-stemmed parent stock, then clipping and tying.
Evergreens
For shades other than standards, evergreens are used almost entirely. Perhaps the favorite evergreen for topiary is American boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Incense-cedar, Arbor-vitae, and American hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) are also popular.
In California, Japanese boxwood, Eugenia, and myrtle are used successfully. Pfitzer Juniper is also adaptable.
The choice of yews depends on the design—upright types are best for columnar or pyramidal shapes, and spreading types for free-flowing designs such as swans.
If the plant has a natural outline, then use that outline, and you will attain the finished form more quickly.
With a pair of bushes, the main trunk of each could form the leg of a bird, and with four bushes a four-legged animal becomes the model.
Sometimes you can form a shape from several shrubs growing in different places, especially in the case of the popular peacock-with spread-tail model. A wedge of boxwood taken from a hedge is ideal for the fan-shaped tail.
Pruning into Shape
When a shape is chosen, prune it severely to the rough outline. Boxwood prunes heavily in early spring before new growth starts; conifers prune in late July or August.
Do not topiary a plant in late autumn or winter since freezing weather may damage the wounds. Gradually, the shrub will develop into a handsome design as new growth fills in.
For many designs, it is necessary to shape the bush around a wire frame. Usually, a two-dimensional frame is sufficient, but for some forms (such as a bird with outstretched wings), a three-dimensional frame is needed.
Frames are best made from 1/2″ soft steel rods, bent with a pipe wrench to the desired outline. Place the frame in the bush and tie the branches to it.
Use rawhide strips for tying as string rots quickly, and wire may cut the bark. If steel rods are unavailable, soft wire mesh or hardware cloth will also do.
Once your topiary has been shaped, all it needs after that is a routine clipping and trying to develop the form as new growth fills out the plant. After a few years, the plant takes on a set form, and little tying is needed.
Clipping
Clipping is continually carried on to refine the form and maintain a clean outline. Clipping may be done at any time except in late autumn and winter.
For best results, give one rather severe pruning and clipping every year, and after that, during the growing season, clip lightly to prevent sagginess of shape.
Principal Cut
This principal cut is given in the spring just before new growth starts for boxwood. Late July or August is best for yew, hemlock, and juniper.
For boxwood, any but the lightest clip in hot, dry weather will make the leaf edges turn brown. This does not harm, but it makes the bush look rusty temporarily.
Use sharp hedge shears for general shaping and a pair of sharp hand clippers for thick branches. Electric clippers are good if properly used.
If you transplant the bush after it has been shaped, root prunes it when the shaping work commences to speed up foliage growth and fill out the design.
Always give the plant plenty of water, especially during dry, hot summers, and allow it to go into cold weather with dry roots.
Feeding
Special attention should be given to feeding during the formative period. Early each February, we feed with a steamed bone meal, about one pound for every 3′ feet of height. In early April, blood meal is applied at the same ratio.
In mid-September, we repeat the feeding of bone meal, but for tubbed plants only. If available, mulch with about two inches of rotted chicken manure or four inches of rotted barn manure in early November.
Interesting Shortcut For Topiary
We have developed an interesting shortcut to producing what looks like a topiary by using three-dimensional shapes made out of 1/4″ or 1/2″ mesh. Each shape is filled with sphagnum moss to hold moisture and is placed on the ground.
Creeping Euonymus (E. radicans minimus), which has tiny dark green leaves and rapid growth habit, is planted around each shape.
In a year, the Euonymus covers the wire shape with a dense green mat that can be closely clipped to form.
These pieces are then transplanted into the garden or tubbed. Euonymus is hardy, disease-resistant, and tolerates either sun or shade.
Important Topiary Collections
■ Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa. (Open to the public.) At Longwood, there are mature topiary pieces in yew—showing geometrical forms and nesting birds. This collection was transplanted from the Long Island estate of the late Harrison Williams, Esq.
Maryland. (Private.) Here, perhaps, are the most beautiful and important topiaries in America. A yew hedge encircling the great oval lawn has its top clipped to resemble rolling waves, and a superb swan tops each wave.
■ The Minot estate and Madame Ganna Walska’s estate at Montecito, Santa Barbara, Calif., have notable topiary. Both estates use Myrtle, Japanese boxwood, Eugenia, and yew. Both are private estates.
■ Heronwood, Upperville, Va., my home, has what we feel is a notable collection of topiary, principally in American boxwood, although now we are using hemlock and yew. Our collection of standardized boxwood trees is especially interesting, the finer specimens having required about 40 years to develop. We are open for inspection by appointment.
44659 by Neill Phillips