An Inside Look at Growing Your Own Topiaries

Have you ever been driving down the road and spotted a giant chicken topiary starring back at you? Aren't you just a bit amused when you see an elephant or a giant panda topiary taking a stroll? Me too! Topiaries are really amazing, ingenious pieces of artwork. If you are just a bit curious, we will look at topiary shapes, topiary shrubs, topiary frames, clipping topiaries and topiary maintenance.

Shapes

Topiary shapes are created by trimming plants, shrubs, bushes or trees and training them around topiary frames. Topiaries are then trimmed and maintained into the cool sculptured topiary forms you see down the street or at Disneyland. For those of you that frequent impressive churches and castles, you have probably run into topiary animals or well-manicured, geometric topiary shapes. The mazes that you see on TV are also another form of topiary.

Some of the most popular topiaries are shaped into geometric shapes, pom-poms, poodle tiers, spirals and topiary animals. You just have to admire anybody who spends so much time patiently trimming a shrub or tree to create a sculptured topiary.

Shrubs

The experts at creating topiaries don't just hope their plants or shrubs will turn into a fine topiary one day. They start out with the best shrubs for this type of process. If you want to try this yourself, the key is to get a variety of shrub or tree that gets very bushy so the topiary will fill out nicely. Try using holly, box, yew or bay shrubs.

Frames for Topiaries

Okay you do not have to make your own topiary frame. The internet has plenty of topiary frames available for purchase. If you are into topiary animals, you will find all sorts of animal frames in a variety of sizes and different prices. Be sure and comparison price check when purchasing.

If you are fascinated with topiary, but just do not quite know where to start buy a kit. You can buy topiary frames with potted plants already started for you. All you have to do is trim them periodically and wind the trailing vines around the existing frame. Pretty easy.

For even less work look for topiaries constructed with moss that require almost no maintenance at all because they are pretty slow growing. The neat thing about buying these kit topiaries is that they are already potted and started with the frame in place. You can place them anywhere you like. Put them out in your garden, in the front yard or on the porch. Have fun with them.

Clipping/Maintenance

Topiary animals require a bit of maintenance to follow the animals framework. The amount of work required is solely based on how quickly the topiary shrub grows.

The topiary frame sits over the chosen plant and you wind tendrils around the frame as they grow clipping here and there where necessary to form the appearance of the topiary animal. Clipping most plants causes them to bush out with additional growth, which can make for a fuller, better-looking topiary.

To keep your topiary looking its best keep the area weed free and of course water it regularly based on the shrub requirements. Periodically fertilize topiaries to encourage new growth.

Sources:

http://www.intergardening.co.uk/practical/planting/topiary.html

http://wilsonbrosonline.com/Plants/Shrubs/Topiary-Shrubs.aspx

http://www.oxfordplanters.co.uk/topiary_species.asp