More than a technique to keep shrubs healthy, pruning is a way to sculpt your shrubs into works of art. Using the techniques of topiary, you can clip plants into unique ornamental shapes like cones, spheres, cubes, animals, and more. These practices aren’t reserved for experts either—anyone can master them. Here’s how to get started!
Beyond pruning out dead wood, removing diseased branches, and generally keeping your plant growth under control, topiary is the practice of giving your shrubs a particular design. Ever seen the perfectly sculpted spheres, curves, cones, spirals, and cubes in a renaissance or classical garden? You don’t need to be working on castle grounds to do it! It’s a way to add interesting shapes and features to any kind of landscape.
This kind of pruning works best on shrubs with small leaves and dense foliage, like privet, boxwood, yew, or holly. If you have a suitable plant, the next step is to choose a shape. After that, there’s really no secret—-just start clipping, but keep in mind the following tips as you go.
When working towards your envisioned shape, start by pruning slowly. Don’t prune more than 3 inches off at a time. Taking away more than that may kill part of the shrub, making the whole process more difficult. Gradual pruning will encourage bushier growth, which will help the shrub fill out so that more pruning is possible.
Pruning a plant into a perfect sphere can be a challenge. To help, you can cut a piece of wire into a circle with the diameter you want. Then, place the wire around a particular spot on the shrub. Clip away any growth above the frame, then move it to a different location on the shrub and repeat the process until you have a sphere.
Putting a frame over the plant like this can be especially helpful if you’re striving to create symmetrical or matching shrubs in your yard. You can also use frames for cones, pyramids and other shapes. As a beginner, you might decide to use a frame to guide you to the perfect form. Even expert topiary pruners often use frames, but they’re not essential.
Once you sculpt a shape that you like, it’s easier to maintain it regularly rather than let it grow out of the design. Look at it every couple of weeks and clip away any errant branches poking up. Remember that you’re making a sculpture in slow motion. It may take months to train the plant into a particular shape. For the plant’s health, don’t do any significant pruning more than once every three months.
Once you sculpt a shape that you like, it's easier to maintain it regularly rather than let it grow out of the design.
As gardeners, we always have the chance to expand our skillset. Pruning plants with topiary designs is just another tool we can use to create new and beautiful effects in the garden. Try your hand at it, and let us know how it goes next time you visit us today!
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