Topiary gardens can take years to grow and perfect (they are not for the faint of heart). For people who are committed to keeping a formal topiary garden, however, the results can be magnificent.
Join me as I take a peek at some inspirational topiary designs, from the tiniest sinkside rosemary to a grand showcase garden in Pennsylvania.
Blasen Landscape Architecture
Topiary is the art of shaping plants into recognizable forms by pruning. In outdoor gardens, spherical contours create a appearance. A collection of shaped evergreens gives a Dr. Seuss–like appeal to this space.
Bosworth Hoedemaker
The classic mini standards seen here seem like little trees, each with a singular trunk and around pom-pom top. Woody herbs like rosemary and lavender make perfect candidates for sinkside or countertop miniature standards.
Interiors by Myriam, LLC
Extend the normal topiary to create three balls of foliage, and you’ve got another traditional type. This topiary brings a tiny green to a music room.
Elad Gonen
Topiaries aren’t only for traditional spaces. Try two matching trees, shaped as standards, in a modern space. Use this technique on a lemon or lime tree to get a topiary that is both beautiful and edible.
Haddonstone Ltd
Another classic topiary form is the spiral. Choose a plant that has been shaped or select your own upright evergreen. An arborvitae is a good selection for this type of creation.
TruexCullins Architecture + Interior Design
Short on space? Try out the spiral seem in a tiny. Kept in a little kettle, a topiary will remain diminutive in size.
Amy Renea
For more inspiration, I traveled to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The gardens have a magnificent display of older, wizened topiary forms combined with whimsical developments in charming shapes.
Amy Renea
This terraced, spherical pyramid shape is repeated often throughout the space.
Amy Renea
Shapes like these must be trimmed several times a year. The gaps between the layers immediately vanish when they aren’t tended regularly.
Amy Renea
A number of those topiary towers are topped by birds that appear ready to lift.
Amy Renea
If you peek inside the various topiary structures, you will see that they often get aid in their older age. The unnatural kinds can place a great deal of weight on the branches of the evergreens, therefore staking is needed.
Amy Renea
It is not all seriousness from the topiary garden. Front and centre sits.
Natural Balance Home Builders
Inspired to test a topiary form of your own? Maybe you would like to begin with an easy, modern hedge and a few pom-poms.
Naples Kitchen and Bath
Or maybe you wish to go with a looser arrangement to spice up the dining room.
D-CRAIN Design and Construction
Whichever style you choose, remember that topiary is an art form that takes dedication and time. You’ll be forming your plant for years, and the maintenance is persistent. If you’ve got the time and inclination, however, a topiary garden can be a beautiful thing to behold.
Tell us Have you got examples of extravagant or simple topiaries? I would love to see them! Share your photographs and links in the Comments section.
More:
Indoor Gardener: Topiaries Help Rooms Form Up