How to Build a Topiary Garden
Despite the vituperations of those who regarded topiary as “pastry cooks’ gardening”, it has always had a loving following somewhere. Whatever topiary might do for the style of a garden, there is always pleasure to be taken in the sheer craftsmanship of creating and maintaining it. In manageable quanti¬ties, making topiary is fun.
The clipping of yew, holly and box played an im¬portant part in seventeenth-century gardens and came to the fore again in the grand formal gardens of the high Victorian era. Large gardens of the twentieth century have often made bold use of topiary, and it has long been a part of the cottage garden tradition.
The continuing appeal of topiary stems from the fact that it is an effective (and also inexpensive) means of creating the structure of a garden. A fine hedge with knife-edged finials marching on top is every bit as much a part of the garden’s structure and ornament as a stone wall would be. A well-placed and freestand¬ing topiary specimen, in whatever style, will com¬mand just as much dramatic attention as a fine statue.
Topiary is essentially a formal style of gardening. It is the imposition of the gardener’s will upon the plant, a living sculpture. This degree of artificiality im¬mediately commands the onlooker’s attention and makes competition from mere flowers seem rather petty. Consequently, topiary is best used where it has the space to be seen on its own terms. The faintly comical mixture of topiary and a gentle jumble of flowers in cottage gardens is perhaps why topiary there has tended to be humorous in inspiration.
Whole gardens of topiary are best kept simple. The point of concentration should be in the contrast of curves and straight lines, of light and shadow, of earthbound or floating forms. A lawn or clean gravel is all that is needed to set off these living sculptures, but you can extend the interest by adding a little coloured foliage such as golden yew, or some simple washes of colour provided by bedding plants.
Topiary is not in itself a labour-intensive craft. Only the amount of topiary you have will make it a chore, especially if ladders are needed. Patience and skill are the keys. Once the shapes are fully formed, an annual clipping is sufficient for yew and box, car¬ried out at the gardener’s convenience during autumn or early winter. Topiary can be made out of holly and bay too, but there is no doubt that yew is much the best. Good topiary is slow to take shape, which is why so many topiary gardens conveniently begin life with a more diverse planting until the topiary develops its own singular authority.
Tags: bedding plants, century gardens, coloured foliage, cottage gardens, formal gardens, gardener, gravel, large gardens, seventeenth century