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Hedges and topiary
Posted by: James Alexander-Sinclair, 13 May 2008, 11.38AM
I've had another thought about small trees. For a more formal look you should consider the classic topiary trees - a short list would include yews, box, beech, limes and holm oaks.
All of them are terribly amenable and happy to be chopped and pruned and kept below their normal height. They're not much good if you're looking for flowers, but for sheer well-cut elegance you can't really go wrong. You know the sort of thing: yew hedges with razor edges, parasols of pleached lime and frost-dusted box topiary. In the winter they provide structure and add tone; in the summer they seem like benevolent aunts standing stiffly, but attentively, above a gambolling chaos of flower and lawn.
You don't need a huge stately garden to use topiary. In my garden I have two stately yews that stand sentry outside my kitchen window and a cluster of tall beech columns on the lawn. The tidy minded may not approve of the latter as it interferes with a perfect green lawn, but they look great in both winter and summer.
Topiary does not always have to be dignified; box balls add bounce as well as formality, peacocks are always fun; a very eminent landscape architect even clipped a complete tea set into his front hedge (including sugar lumps).
Box hedges are unbelievably useful. In grand houses they've often been used to make elaborate patterns and knot gardens; this can work equally well in smaller gardens, especially front gardens. The front garden can be a bit troublesome as it's not somewhere you're ever going to sit in - unless you enjoy being observed by passers-by - but you still want it to look good. A simple pattern of box and gravel looks fabulous (especially from upstairs windows) and is pretty low maintenance. Box also works well as edging, in order to restrain plants and keep them from falling over paths.
There should always be room for topiary. Don't forget that, amongst all that graft and sweat, gardens are meant to be entertaining. Even just putting a slight twist in a hedge can prompt a smile.
Comments
Gail
14 May 2005, 08.12PM
Anthony
15 May 2008, 01.15PM
p.henderson
18 May 2008, 10.37AM
Helena
19 May 2008, 09.23PM
Gail;
29 May 2008, 05.02PM
polybon
08 June 2008, 10.22PM
Di
18 June 2008, 05.13PM
Jean
29 September 2008, 11.22PM
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