topiaries

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I have a perfect spot for a topiary. Never really liked topiaries or have any experience with them. I am redoing my yard. At one corner, there’s a formal garden. It looks like only a topiary will look right. Suggestions?</p>

2

<p>I saw some at Home Depot earlier this spring, so check out the garden centers in your area to see what’s available.</p>

<p>We have a rather overgrown Japanese Holly in the front yard that Happykid wants to topiarize (is that even a word?) during summer vacation. Right now she’s planning to turn it into a classic VW beetle because of its current dimensions.</p>

3

<p>I like eugenia topiaries - I have them in pots. They have a classical look - not the tortured appearance of coniferous topiaries.</p>

<p>[Image</a> Detail for - <a href=“http://www.omni-mediagrouphosting.com/sunshinetropical/images/Eug%203%20ball%2014%20b17956.jpg[/url]”>http://www.omni-mediagrouphosting.com/sunshinetropical/images/Eug%203%20ball%2014%20b17956.jpg](<a href=“http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoV7BoqJPhzsAXNCJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Deugenia%2Btopiary%26fr%3Dyfp-t-527-s%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D12&w=506&h=750&imgurl=www.omni-mediagrouphosting.com%2Fsunshinetropical%2Fimages%2FEug%25203%2520ball%252014%2520b17956.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.omni-mediagrouphosting.com%2Fsunshinetropical%2Fproducts.php%3Fpid%3D252&size=311+KB&name=Images+are+still+loading+please+wait...&p=eugenia+topiary&oid=6da6981ab0bf2eac73449154d7d91ab2&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t-527-s&tt=Images%2Bare%2Bstill%2Bloading%2Bplease%2Bwait...&b=0&ni=96&no=12&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=12bp9vmdq&sigb=13bloh1oj&sigi=12nf2ct3e&.crumb=V25wIA0//lm]Image”>http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoV7BoqJPhzsAXNCJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Deugenia%2Btopiary%26fr%3Dyfp-t-527-s%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D12&w=506&h=750&imgurl=www.omni-mediagrouphosting.com%2Fsunshinetropical%2Fimages%2FEug%25203%2520ball%252014%2520b17956.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.omni-mediagrouphosting.com%2Fsunshinetropical%2Fproducts.php%3Fpid%3D252&size=311+KB&name=Images+are+still+loading+please+wait...&p=eugenia+topiary&oid=6da6981ab0bf2eac73449154d7d91ab2&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t-527-s&tt=Images%2Bare%2Bstill%2Bloading%2Bplease%2Bwait...&b=0&ni=96&no=12&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=12bp9vmdq&sigb=13bloh1oj&sigi=12nf2ct3e&.crumb=V25wIA0//lm)</a></p>

4

<p>Suggestions? Try not to turn into my bizarre neighbor who can be found each and every morning from 6AM to 11 AM obsessively pruning his nine gummi bear shaped topiaries placed ever so tastefully around his front yard.</p>

5

<p>Need more info. What do you mean by formal garden? Do you need something that provides presence but can be easily maintained? How large? An evergreen broadleaf like a boxwood, or a conifer or three in an attractive pot can look great & since it is in a pot, it isn’t really a permanent commitment.</p>

<p>Japanese maples have cultivars that are slow growing and are very striking.</p>

<p>The problem many people make is choosing something with leaves that are too large to clip without it looking hacked at.</p>

<p>You could also use a wire form and train a climber to grow around & through it.</p>

<p>If you have an iPad, the Houzz app was mentioned on the kitchen thread, but it also has a ton of landscaping ideas.</p>

<p>I don’t mind an appropriately pruned hedge, but only a topiary fan in someone else’s yard.
[NW</a> Gardens: Have a little fun with those Felcos: Topiary lets you trim a little or a lot - seattlepi.com](<a href=“http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/homegarden/article/NW-Gardens-Have-a-little-fun-with-those-Felcos-1214515.php#photo-670936]NW”>http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/homegarden/article/NW-Gardens-Have-a-little-fun-with-those-Felcos-1214515.php#photo-670936)</p>

6

<p>I am laughing, musicamusica!</p>

7

<p>There were two boxwood trees pruned into neat pyramids in our garden when we moved in. It was a very neat look, and easy to maintain. I maintained it myself for a year while decided whether to go for more natural–in the end I went with more natural, but it was looks not maintenance.</p>

8

<p>I am not telling Happykid about the gummi bear topiaries. But I do think I’ll show her the car from emeraldkity4’s link!</p>

9

<p>I just came back from a garden center. I saw pyramid shaped boxwood there. It says it will grow to 8’ Is that true or it grows so slow that it mainatins current height pretty much.
Eugenia will also be good. Anything pruned in my yard is shaped round. Lowes has them at the moment but rather small. Do they ever get 4’ tall?</p>

<p>I hand prune everything. I wish I could do that every day. It gets to you after a while.</p>

<p>emeraldkity - It will be in ground. It is next to a brick walk and a row of boxwood all looking geometrical with made-up look.</p>

10

<p>As long as it does not look like this:</p>

<p>[Happy</a> bushes!!!](<a href=“http://www.plantamnesty.org/pruning_gallery/Happy,%20Happy,%20Happy.htm]Happy”>http://www.plantamnesty.org/pruning_gallery/Happy,%20Happy,%20Happy.htm)</p>

<p>anything will do. :)</p>

11

<p>How did they do that? Lucky you I couldn’t if I wanted. I see topiaries get so little respect here:)</p>

12

<p>Well I am married to an obsessive compulsive pruner. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to approach him and without making eye contact, calmly asked him to “put the shears down”, while I backed away slowly. Eugenias are just a gateway drug.</p>

13

<p>This reminds me of when H & I were first married and we were renting a house with a huge yard.
It also had huge English laurel hedges that were quite overgrown.
My grandpa thought it was Christmas.
( grandpa & grandma lived in Magnolia, a neighborhood known for compulsive gardeners)</p>

14

<p>English laurels must be coming back. Two of my neighbors put them in for hedge. IMO, one of the ugliest plant. I am restoring my Mountain Laurel patch at the moment. They are quite unlike English laurels.</p>

15

<p>Oh no.
English laurels get way too big for anyplace but rural England.
Invasive too.
We had an english laurel shrub when we moved in, (that at one point someone had remodeled into an Easter basket). We took it out a few years ago.
What is funny is that one place something is a scourge, but another is considered unusual or at least desirable.
I love barberries for instance.darwinii & rose glow.
I had no idea that they are invasive in other areas.
Eleven are even listed as great plant picks!
[Plant</a> Lists | Great Plant Picks](<a href=“Great Plant Picks: Unbeatable Plants for the Maritime Northwest Garden”>Great Plant Picks: Unbeatable Plants for the Maritime Northwest Garden)</p>

16

<p>I was watching “Sense and Sensibility” a month back when the following conversation took place:</p>

<p>H: what’s that on?
MM: Sense and Sensibility
H: Oh,…isn’t that the movie with the really good hedge?
MM:whuah?
H: the hedge, kind of undulating hedge, you remember THE HEDGE
MM: um, no
H: well, just put it on hold when the good hedge comes on, and call me</p>

<p>sure enough, a really good hedge comes on the screen towards the end of the movie.</p>

<p>That’s the only thing he remembers.</p>

<p>fast forward to 1:09 for a really good hedge:</p>

<p>[Sense</a> and Senibiliy._0012 - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>

17

<p>^The entire movie is reduced to the hedge! I saw the movie but never noticed the hedge.</p>

<p>emeraldkity - One of my neighbor’s yard is not big at all that is lined with english laurels. They can get frost bites in winter here. Another neighbor protects them with burlaps. Not worth the bother in my book.</p>

18

<p>Local nurseries have these in stanfard form. They look lovely at the moment. Just wondering if they may turn into invasive pesky plants down the rod. Does anyone have experience with them?</p>