Topiary

Book excerpt: This is a practical guide to the art of clipping, training and shaping plants. It offers fascinating insight into the art of topiary, with step-by-step instructions, spectacular photography and authoritative text. It shows how topiary can complement a range of garden styles and create design effects, such as defining an entranceway, marking a boundary or creating depth. Projects for beginners through to experienced gardeners show how to clip a spiral, create freehand figures, use topiary frames, train an arch, and tame a hedge. Jenny Hendy explains how topiary can be incorporated into garden styles, from traditional and contemporary to country-house and Japanese. A section on green architecture looks at larger topiary elements, including hedges, doorways and windows, and niches and alcoves. Achievable geometric shapes are also covered, from spheres and pyramids to turrets and helter-skelters. There are suggestions for more ambitious planting effects, such as knot gardens and parterres. Sculptural topiary is also explored, from the clipped creatures of cottage gardens to modern plant shaping. A plant directory then lists the best plants and the training to which they are suited.