Gardeners Tips

Some evergreen shrubs lend themselves to topiary and living sculptures. From simple Box hedges as knot gardens to large geometric shapes you can train and prune to get effects with a large range of plants and shrubs.

Good Plants to Start Sculpting
Yew (Taxus) is a traditional topiary subject that stands hard pruning with it’s fine textured needles and moderate growth rates.
Juniper is a fine textured evergreen with tree, shrub and prostrate forms that respond to pruning.
Holly (Ilex) is a glossy leaved evergreen with various leaf forms depending on variety. It is slow growing and can be trimmed quite hard.
Box (Boxus) is useful for smaller sculpted shapes needing fine detail. It is slow growing.
Cupressus are often used for spiral shapes or cloud pruning.
Bay (Laurel nobilis) has coarse aromatic leaves that are popular for training as a round-headed standard.

Gardeners Tips
Select a plant with good foliage and strong stem or stems.
Plant it in a prominent location as it will be a feature to see and nurture. It may take several years to get it exactly how you want it so you need access with your shears or secateurs.
Encourage new growth at the base of the plant by cutting back upright lower growths to get a broad outline.
Remove crossing interior branches and twiggy stems to allow light to reach the interior.
Select strong stems to form the framework for the overall shape.
Complex shapes may need some stakes or frame work to support the growth. Incorporate them early so they get covered in foliage.

Seasonal Tips

In Autumn mulch roots, give a last light trimming and it may be necessary to wrap some sculptures loosely in fiber fleece or sacking to protect against heavy frost.
In Spring cut out any shoot tips that were damaged in winter and clean out dead wood and debris. Begin shaping new plants and feed plants when they show new growth. Do not trim buds off floral shrubs.
Early Summer requires regular trimming to create and maintain shapes with desired detail. Water the foliage occasionally and keep feeding. Stop pruning in later summer to avoid encouraging tender young growth that wont survive winter.
In Winter knock off any snow that builds up on flat topped shrubs. If you move container grown plants under the eaves of the house for shelter remember some water.

Popular Shapes
For hedges, crenelated battlements and trains with or without carriages are popular.
Geometric shapes including Spheres, Spirals, Cones, Rectangles and Pyramids.
For the adventurous animals, clouds and wall shapes are popular. Use small leaved shrubs for detailed shapes.
Visit some Topiary gardens or select by clicking on a book from Amazon for more ideas.

Conifers can be kept neat and tidy by regular pruning and can become feature plants with there own personalities.

Spiral Pruning

• Interesting patterns and shapes can also be created like this double spiral.
• Two conifer types were used the low growing ball shaped shrubs to make the spiral at ground level. Abies balsamea ‘Hudsonia’ is a bun shaped, slow growing conifer.
• The tall spiral was cut into a Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Columnaris’ which can grow to 20′ high. Golden Yew could also be trained to grow in this shape.

Cloud Pruning

• Cloud pruning was a fad some years ago but it takes dedication to keep up to it.
• Ilex crenata, the small leaved holly is popular in Japan
• Taxus Yew is without equal when clear geometric shapes are required.
• Even Leylandii can be pruned into cloud shapes.
• Pines are more difficult and time-consuming to prune this way.
• Leylandii are forever needing extra trimmi9ng but if you enjoy pruning then it may be the plant for you.

Credits
Green Elephants Garden Sculptures by epSos.de CC BY 2.0
Topiary by ptc24 CC BY 2.0

Topiary Shears
See Top Topiary Gardens

Curves at RHS Harlow Carr Garden

The Royal Horticultural Society offers free advice on there web site and to members. Other membership benefits include free entry to some gardens and a monthly magazine.

Jobs to do in March

Spring usually arrives by mid-March and the frequent sunny days provide the opportunity for an increasing range of gardening tasks.

1. Plant shallots, onion sets and early potatoes
2. Protect new spring shoots from slugs
3. Weeds come back in to growth – deal with them before they get out of hand
4. Start feeding fish and using the pond fountain; remove pond heaters
5. Lift and divide overgrown clumps of perennials

Get more RHS expert advice

When you have done these jobs you can cut the grass, sow some seeds, dig the veg patch and a runner bean trench then in the afternoon prune the roses, spread the compost heap and have a cup of tea!

RHS publish a wide range of books that are available from amazon many of which are priced at a reasonable discount.

In my opinion the best value bulbs are crocus. In my garden I think they give more colour and less work than other bulbs for the same money. Crocus are best value bulbs partially because they are long lived and in good conditions form large clumps.

Crocus may be the best value bulbs because they produce stunning colour at the start of spring. Snowdrops are brilliant but the white flowers and green leaves can not compare to the bright yellow and purples of the crocus. Even white crocus have startling yellow stamen.

Best value bulbs are crocus not the best value bulbs come from Crocus. What a clever name for an online garden supplies company. As you know we prefer our affiliates Jersey Plants and Thompson & Morgan but there is room for all these businesses to supply the keen gardener.

Massed crocus are popular in public parks as they are best value bulbs for growing in grass. The leaves die back soon enough not to worry about mowing. I leave some patches unmown for 4-6 weeks to give them more energy for next year.

Crocus are a group of plants in the Iridaceae or iris family. On flickr you can view lots of crocus or see the best top 25

Bergenia or ‘Elephant Ears’ is a popular ‘weed-smothering’ ground cover plant.
The mainly evergreen, shiny leaves of Bergenia ciliata can turn red in a frost.
Bergenia Purpurea or Purpurascens are often grown in shade from shallow rooting rhizomes. The leaves can be in excess of 10″ across and resemble Elephant Ears hence the nickname.
Most varieties produce pink spike of flowers and many have interesting crinkles to the leaf edges.

Homeopathic Bergenia Medicine

• A juice or powder of the whole plant is said to be used to treat urinary troubles.
• The juice of the leaves is used as drops to relieve earaches.
• The root is used as a tonic in the treatment of fevers, diarrhea and pulmonary affections
• The root juice is used to treat coughs and colds, hemorrhoids, asthma and urinary problems.
• Externally, the root is bruised and applied as a poultice to boils and ophthalmia, it is also considered helpful in relieving backache.
• The root of this plant has a high reputation in indigenous systems of medicine for dissolving stones in the kidneys.

Always seek medical advice before using mixes of Bergenia medicine

Grow your own drugs

The flowers on Pieris hang like clusters of small white bells not unlike the flowers of Lily of the Valley. The flowers attract bees in May, June or July and are often quite abundant.

The young leaves are the main attraction for me with the strong red that matures slowly through pink and cream to green over the season. The bush can grow 4 feet tall and spread about 3 feet but is worth the space. Prefering acid soil it will grow in a neutral soil or in a container filled with ericaceous compost.

Mountain Fire and Forest Flame are two varieties that I have growing in the garden. Flaming Silver has a white edge to the mature leaf.  The darkest red leaf is grown on Valley Valentine and Flamingo has rose pink flowers.

Other links

Special and extraordinary Leaves
Pieris winter blossom
Pieris portraits