Gone are the much - awaited blooms of spring. So too the hazy spectacle of summer. Moving on from the mellow shades of autumn, as the garden enters its winter slumber, another beauty is slowly revealed. As the flowers fade and the leaves fall, evergreen shrubs take centre stage, revealing attractive, carefully pruned structures that may have gone unnoticed for much of the year.
Anyone who has topiary in their garden will value its appeal during the winter months in particular. Whether it is neatly clipped hedges, shrubs trained into the shape of cones or spirals, or simply a couple of containerised box balls flanking a door, these green sculptures create a sense of order and permanence, not to mention a certain elegance that no other plants can provide.
These living ornaments - together with garden paths, terraces, steps and walls - constitute the architecture of urban and country gardens. As many gardeners and garden designers have pointed out, without good structure a garden is, essentially, nothing.
HISTORIC PRUNING
Topiary, or the practice of pruning trees and shrubs into particular shapes, is an ancient art that dates back to Roman times. It was, however, during the Renaissance that the art of topiary really took hold in Britain.
Keen to flaunt their mastery over nature, garden designers created vast schemes combining parterres, knot gardens and individual topiary specimens. Royal gardens such as Hampton Court Palace and Kew Palace were decorated with cones, balls and other clipped evergreens, in emulation of the grand formal gardens at Versailles in France and Het Loo Palace in the Netherlands.
While topiary continued to be popular across Continental Europe well into the eighteenth century, by this time many British garden designers, such as Charles Bridgeman, William Kent and Lancelot Capability Brown, were changing the face of country estates by creating vast landscape gardens. In the process, they swept away many formal schemes that relied on topiary for effect.
The latter part of the nineteenth century saw a renaissance in the art of clipping, especially in the gardens of the Arts and Crafts style, such as Hidcote in Gloucestershire and, in the early part of the twentieth century, Great Dixter in Sussex. No longer just the preserve of grand aristocratic and royal gardens, topiary gradually made its way into smaller plots, particularly cottage gardens. Yew and box shrubs proved the perfect medium to be trimmed into an array of, occasionally amusing, shapes, including teapots, peacocks and cake stands, which became popular front garden ornaments.
The establishment of garden history as a serious discipline in the second half of the twentieth century provoked yet more renewed interest in topiary. With it came the restoration of many great schemes as well as the creation of new ones inspired by the past. Today, contemporary garden designers are using topiary in exciting new ways: hedges are being cut into waves and diagonals; shrubs are cloud - pruned, and slender, elegant cones are reaching ever greater heights.
CHOOSING A SCHEME
When adding topiary to a garden, the key is choosing a scheme that matches the available budget, time and experience of the gardener, not to mention the garden itself. If patient, you can buy small shrubs for a song and watch them slowly take shape over the years. Pruning, of course, is essential, but simple shapes, such as a ball or a cone, should not be too onerous or time consuming. Clipping will only be required two or three times a year and the single piece of equipment needed is a pair of good - quality hand shears. Be careful not to prune too quickly or vigorously. It is best to go round the plant slowly, clipping small sections at a time. A small 10cm box shrub, for example, within five years should have reached about 40 - 50cm in diameter. Other than the cost, the added advantage of buying smaller shrubs is that they are easier to establish. They can also be moved around the garden in their initial years, until their rightful place is found.
The most commonly used topiary plants are box, yew, privet, bay and holly. Yew is slow growing, but once established can last for centuries, making it a wonderful horticultural heirloom. Privet, on the other hand, is fairly fast growing; for this reason it needs to be trimmed more often to keep it in good shape. Holly and yew have the added advantage of bearing red berries in the winter, although it is necessary to plant a male and a female plant to guarantee this. The berries provide not only colour but also valuable food for the birds.
TAKING SHAPE
In the past, wooden frames, known as formers, were placed around the shrubs to mark out their final shape. Whenever growth went beyond the frame, it would be trimmed off, until eventually the desired form was achieved and the wood was just left to rot away. Nowadays, metal and wire - mesh frames are available in a wide range of shapes, making it easy to create naturalistic figures - from cats and cockerels to dogs and dolphins. With no frames, spirals are perhaps one of the hardest shapes to achieve, although it helps to spiral string around the initial topiary cone as a trimming guide.
In terms of design, the simplest schemes are often the best. Paths and borders edged with a low box hedge are classic topiary. So too are evergreen hedges, used either as border backdrops or as walls for garden rooms. Containerised topiary - either a matching pair or a group - also works well, and has the advantage of being moveable, so you can change the structure of the garden whenever required. Simple box balls are ideal punctuation marks within borders, or flanking steps or archways. Four pyramids or cones planted geometrically to mark the corners of an imaginary square make a statement in any large border. If there is a large expanse of lawn, it can be broken up with large and dramatic topiary yews. A single standard holly grown in a circular border near the house makes a welcoming sight, particularly in the winter, when it can be clothed in fairy lights for added festive effect.
After enjoying such an array of evergreen beauties sparkling with frost or topped with a fine dusting of snow, then look forward to their beautiful lush spring growth - yet another visual delight in the gardening year.
RIGHT
Topiary can be used to defin different garden rooms to great effect. Here, an archway opening sculpted through a hedgerow creates a delightful door into a separate section of an English landscaped garden. BELOW Frosted topiary standards are stationed like regimental lollipop trees along the borders at Amberley Castle in Sussex. Along with paths, terraces, steps and walls these pruned ornaments constitute the architecture of a garden and add visual interest throughout the year.
LEFT
Spirals are perhaps the trickiest shapes to achieve, although string spiralled around the initial cone topiary can be used as a trimming guide. Box spirals at West Green House garden in Hampshire. BELOW An avenue of topiary trees. Metal and wire - mesh frames are available in a range of shapes to help achieve desired forms.
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Landscape Design