Many of us have more than once seen originally trimmed bushes and trees of interesting shapes: geometric shapes, arches, labyrinths, figures of animals, etc. But few people know that the art of curly pruning of trees and shrubs is called topiary and has its roots in ancient times.
Some consider its homeland to be ancient Egypt, others, relying on ancient Roman chronicles, attribute its origins to the civilizations of Hellas and ancient Rome. Judging by the origin of the word itself (Topiary), this is indeed the case. Translated from Latin, the word “topiaria” means “gardening art.”
The Roman historians Pliny the Elder and the Younger, the poet Marcus Valerius Martial described unusual green figures in gardens in their works, and the gardener Cneius Matius, who lived in the first century BC, is considered the founder of the art of topiary.
He was a friend of the Roman emperors Julius Caesar and Augustus and was the first to demonstrate to the public the art of decorative pruning of bushes and trees.
The decoration of gardens, parks and palace ensembles in this way again declared itself loudly in the design of the magnificent European estates of noble persons and public parks during the Renaissance. The Renaissance gave a new impetus to the development of topiary art. Topiary of trees and bushes has become a necessary element in the design of estate and public parks. Since the end of the fifteenth century and to this day, this direction of gardening art (topiary) has been present in the design of the most famous palace and castle parks (Versailles in France, Peterhof in St. Petersburg, etc.).
They are decorated with green labyrinths, arches, borders, and various geometric shapes of trees and shrubs.
Trees and shrubs trimmed in the shape of geometric shapes or figurines of animals and people can be found in ordinary parks in any country.
Topiary gardens are considered one of the most famous attractions and are extremely loved by visitors.
This is the Marqueyssac garden (Les Jardins de Marqueyssac) in Aquitaine - perhaps the most visited attraction in the French province of Dordogne, and the Belgian topiary park in Durbuy in the smallest city, and the Ladue topiary garden in the American Maryland.
The creation of such “green” sculptures and architectural forms requires years of painstaking work and care. Not all plants are suitable for creating works of garden art - topiary, but only evergreens with small dense leaves or needles: boxwood, yew, holly, privet, thuja, laurel.
In the twentieth century, thanks to the Americans, the art of topiary made a new round in development - frame topiary appeared. Such “green” sculptures were used in the design of Disneyland.
The presence of a wire frame allows you to create the most bizarre forms of topiary.
Of course, traditional topiary art is more labor-intensive and requires more time to create full-fledged forms.
A small animalistic topiary can be grown and formed no earlier than six to seven years.
However, this ancient art of Topiary has now finally “taken root” on all continents, and without topiary works it is impossible to imagine a single famous park or exhibition on the topic of landscape design.
It makes sense to learn how to trim decorative shrubs in order to give the entrance area of your home splendor and respectability. At the same time, it doesn’t matter at all what your house looks like or is called - a cottage, a mansion or a hut on chicken legs. A beautifully designed entrance to a face and rickety shack. And even if you don’t achieve the grandeur and pomp that the skilled gardeners of France and England achieve, in any case, the entrance to the house will take on an elegant, well-groomed appearance.
I would also like to note that the entrance area is exactly the place that it is advisable to decorate with the greatest possible diligence, because this is the most visited and visible place of any site, garden, or yard. It is at the entrance to the home that geometrically correct trimmed borders, hedges and more complex trimmed figures look most appropriate and organic.
I cut everything.If you don’t know how to trim bushes, or don’t dare to start, buy scissors and try to trim bushes that you don’t mind, gaining experience and remembering what’s what. Your first targets may be shrubs that are known to tolerate pruning well and make serious mistakes: willow, privet, bladderwort... or even ordinary currants. I would like to note that even professional gardeners, when starting a haircut, often do not know what exactly this will lead to. For example, the world-famous clipped yew trees of the English estate Leavens Hall were originally trimmed in the form of hemispheres, but now, three centuries later, they turned out to be “chess pieces.” So cut everything and watch how the bushes behave. This way you will gain practical experience, which is the only thing you need in this matter.
I note that in Europe the most popular objects for pruning are the very heat-loving yew and boxwood. Both of these plants suffer from frost, but to say that they are completely prohibited would be wrong. Studying their assortment, I am sure, will still lead to pleasant surprises. We will return to this at the end of this article.
There are dozens of trees and shrubs that tolerate pruning well, even in central Russia. And there are hundreds of them with varieties. If varietal plants are not available to you, you can easily find objects for trimming in the forest. Our common species such as linden, willow, spruce, juniper, elm, and alder are well sheared. But there are shrubs that have a more pronounced ability to tolerate pruning and maintain the given growth form. Here is just a small part of the shrubs that can be used to formally decorate the entrance to your family nest.
Common privet has all the qualities necessary for a border shrub. It has medium-sized foliage, grows well after being cut, and holds the shape given by the cut for a long time. Its disadvantage is its relatively low winter hardiness. But if you use its decorative form “Atrovirens”, which, by the way, is the most common, and limit the cut “products” to a height of 60-70cm, then frost damage is practically eliminated. In Europe, privet is used for shoulder-high geometric hedges. Here you can reach such a height in the Black Earth Region and further south. I note that in order for the high hedge to be thick enough, the bushes are planted quite densely. multi-row and cut as one.
Privet has a variety called Aurea with golden foliage. It is three times lower than the main form, and less durable. But if you use it for squat curbs 15-25 cm high, practically no freezing is observed.
Brittle willow is best known for its popular decorative form “Bullata”, which is also called “self-stretching” due to the density of its contours. It should be said that the wild varieties of this willow are not inferior in attractiveness to the cultivated form, and are also well trimmed. In nature, it is usually a medium-sized tree, 7-8 (up to 15) meters high, with a dense, tent-shaped crown, leafy only at the top. If you start cutting the tree early, you can first, gradually retreating, maintain the “inverted drop” shape. Then, as you grow older, you can gradually turn the crown into a “box on a trunk,” which is also interesting. Since the tree grows quickly, the number of haircuts should be at least 3-4 per season.
Cotoneaster brilliantis - in terms of its representation in landscaping and park construction, it is the main border shrub for central Russia and the North-West. But in urban plantings it is often unimpressive with its appearance, which discourages gardeners from using this shrub in the garden. It must be said that this is not the fault of the cotoneaster itself. It’s just that our landscapers act according to the rule - “stick it in and forget it,” forgetting that the bush must first be planted according to all the rules, and then fertilize and loosen the base, and water it during drought. And most importantly, hedges and borders must be cut on time, otherwise nothing worthwhile will come of it.
Usually low borders 60-70 cm high are made from cotoneaster, which can be very decorative if done correctly. Look at what cotoneaster is capable of, from which wide shaped hedges are created through dense multi-row planting. Such hedges are trimmed up to 5-6 times per season. But if impeccability is not your first priority, then three times is enough. Free haircut silhouettes are easier, for example, in the form of asymmetrical pillows and hemispheres. Small pillows are created from single bushes, large ones are formed from several plants planted nearby.
Viburnum foliage - thanks to its pliability in pruning, and especially its two “colored varieties”, this shrub is one of the most useful ornamental deciduous shrubs for yard landscaping and small amateur gardens. It allows for an incredibly diverse range of uses in the garden. Both varieties (purple "Diabolo" and yellow "Aurea") can be used for trimmed trapezoidal hedges 120-170cm high. A hedge, if cut only from the sides, can be semi-free. In both cases, hedges not only do a good job of fencing, but are excellent screens from prying eyes and serve as an excellent background, against which the most ordinary flower arrangements become unusually attractive.
Individual bushes can be formed in the shape of an “inverted drop”. In this way, by the way, you can refine a completely mature bush. Other haircut shapes can be a variety of geometric shapes: balls and hemispheres, cubes, pyramids. Asymmetrical forms of cutting look no less impressive - various pillows, mops, which can be created by cutting a single plant or several densely planted bushes, united by cutting into one whole.
Rhododendron Katevbinsky - colorful flowering is expected from rhododendron, and few people notice how beautiful its shiny leathery leaves are, similar to lingonberry leaves, but 10-15 times larger. This species itself is winter-hardy, but does not bloom every year. The bush is initially quite dense, but with age it can stretch out and thin out. If you slightly adjust the growth of the plant, blinding the growth points at the very beginning of their development, then the density and silhouette of the bush can be radically improved. With these manipulations, one should strive to reduce and compact the crown of the bush so that it takes the shape of a squat, dense hemisphere or pillow.
“Golden Princess” - Japanese spirea has a lot of varieties that initially have thick and dense crowns. It is not difficult to refine their appearance by transforming them into pillows, balls and hemispheres. This, by the way, does not have any negative consequences for their flowering. As for the Golden Princess variety, it is remarkable for its small leaves, the golden color of which is practically unchanged from spring to autumn. The shrub, which is given a spherical shape, is thus equally beautiful all season long. The number of haircuts is 3-4 per season, the last one at the end of August.
The varieties “Little Princess”, “Shirobana”, “Gold Mound”, “Gold Flame”, etc. are also suitable for cutting.
Thuja occidentalis - almost all varietal thujas are well trimmed. But when cutting them, it is advisable to adhere to the rule: the silhouette of the haircut should be similar to the natural growth form of the variety. Balls, hemispheres and pillows are formed from spherical varieties; from pyramidal ones - columns, pyramids, cones, etc. Number of haircuts from 3 to 6 per season.
The varieties “Rhein Gold”, “Aurea”, “Smaragd”, “Globoza”, “Zolotistokonchikovaya”, “Kristata”, etc. are good for cutting.
Kuril tea - most varieties of Kuril tea have loose and loose crowns. Giving density and smooth contours unrecognizably changes the appearance of the shrub for the better. Even a non-flowering bush becomes unusually attractive. In addition, cutting does not hinder, but on the contrary, stimulates flowering. Depending on the natural shape of the crown of the variety, it makes sense to give the bush a spherical silhouette (varieties "Abbotswood", "Gold Star", "Goldfinger") or a more squat, cushion-shaped shape ("Hoplease Orange", "Primrose Beauty", "Farrery").
Yew and boxwood - and they are not forbidden.Both of these shrubs have winter-hardy varieties and forms that winter quite stably under the snow. In boxwood, the most attractive are the dwarf and low-growing spherical varieties, which are given greater density by pruning. They can also be planted in dense rows as informal borders or in masses one next to the other, trimmed flat all together at the top.
Yew has squat forms that grow spreadingly, in the manner of Cossack juniper. Several fairly winter-hardy yew varieties have already been identified, which are an excellent material for low geometric borders of 40-60 cm. What is especially attractive about yew is that it grows very slowly, so it does not need frequent trimming.
Articles about the plant
First, a little theory...
Do you want to turn your summer cottage into a semblance of an aristocratic villa and amaze the imagination of your guests? Just have trees and bushes in your garden, skillfully trimmed into a variety of geometric shapes.
Topiary is a formative pruning with the help of which trees and shrubs are given the intended shape, starting from simple geometric shapes (ball, cube, pyramid) and ending with the most complex silhouettes of animals, people and fairy-tale characters. Spirals, letters and numbers are also popular.
A curly haircut requires a lot of patience. Before such a “living sculpture” appears in your garden, young shoots will have to be trimmed for several years.
What to practice with when cutting a curly haircut?To understand how much you like hairdressing, you can first practice on Kochia broom, an annual herbaceous plant up to 120 cm high. Green Forest, Sultan, Summer Cyprus, and Trichophylla varieties tolerate haircuts well. Working with kochia is a real pleasure. Closer to autumn, the bush will turn red and take on a very decorative appearance. At the end of the season, you can simply pull it out and send it to the compost to grow a new figure in this place next year.
Another great option for training is small-leaved elm. The tree grows back very quickly after pruning, so all the flaws in your work will not be visible. This is also the main disadvantage of elm: the plant quickly sprouts new shoots, and if the shape is successful, then in the future it will have to be maintained with frequent haircuts.
Conditions and careThe formed plants do not tolerate drought and frost well. For most plants, it is better to choose a place protected from wind and bright sun. In autumn, the root ball and the base of the trunk are covered with an additional layer of earth or sawdust.
“Living sculptures” of complex shape should be completely covered with fabric, because damaged shoots will be very difficult to repair. In general, it should be remembered that pruning depletes trees and shrubs, which is why proper care, feeding and adherence to agricultural practices are so important for them.
Immediately after cutting, it is advisable to support the plants with stimulants. To speed up root formation, you can use zircon and spray epin on the crown.
Do not forget to water and rain the crown of conifers.
Expert advice
Fir and spruce form beautiful cone-shaped figures, but they retain their density only if they grow in the sun. In the shade the crown will be quite loose. To obtain a dense form, pinch out the growths annually, leaving 1-2 young needles. The easiest way to do this is at the moment when regrowth has just begun.
How to cut a haircutIf you have a good sense of shape, simple shapes can be cut without any tools “by eye.” The plant is grown to the desired size and then given the desired shape by cutting off any excess. This is usually how various shrubs – barberries, derain and spirea – are given a spherical shape.
If you don't have a good eye, you'll need a template made from bamboo sticks or slats held together with duct tape. The template is applied to the plant and all shoots protruding beyond the shape are cut off.
If you are planning a particularly complex figure, the creation of which will take more than one year, you can use a stationary template, which is a wire frame. It is carefully dug into the place where the plant is planted, being careful not to damage the roots. The plant itself is placed inside the frame, and everything that is outside is cut off. The metal walls of the frame serve as clear guides for cutting. With their help, interesting figures are created from thuja and juniper.
On a note
There are ways to create green shapes that don't involve cutting at all. All that is needed for this is a frame that models the figure. Just plant vines around it, such as vines or ivy, and send the shoots along the wire. Soon the vine will entwine the frame exactly in shape.
We cut your hair on timeYou can start creating a topiary form when the plant reaches the age of 5 years and its root system has developed sufficiently.
Trimming is carried out during the period of shoot growth, removing no more than one third of the green mass at a time, otherwise the plant will begin to hurt.
When using a frame, shoots growing through the mesh are pinched, leaving 3-4 buds on the branch. Thanks to this, the plant begins to branch more actively, and the foliage gradually becomes denser.
To trim plants, you can use not only special scissors (mechanical or battery-powered), but also regular garden pruners. You just need to make sure that its blades are well sharpened and do not “chew” the cuts.
Cutting a cone using the example of a bush (boxwood)All you need to create stunning effects is four bamboo sticks as a guide and a battery-powered hedge trimmer with high-quality, precision-ground knives.
1. Four bamboo sticks define the shape of the topiary figure - simply tie the top tips together with string.
2. The shape of a bush can be created faster by using a battery-powered hedge trimmer. This hedge trimmer has an anti-lock feature that prevents the blades from becoming stuck during operation if thick branches are encountered. Just cut off the branches sticking out between the bamboo sticks.
3. Now the sticks can be removed and the resulting boxwood pyramid can be adjusted. It is very important to use a hedge trimmer with sharp blades to create such a shape, otherwise the leaves will break and brown spots may appear on the edges.
4. If the bush is exposed to the bright rays of the sun after pruning, it should be protected with a special film so that the pruning area does not become covered with brown spots.
Forming a cone on the plant - photo Interesting video - cutting a thuja with your own hands after losing its shape
24 Cosrx Pimple Master Patch Face Place Scar Treatment Stickers...
151.32 rub.
Free shipping★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ (4.80) | Orders (255)
Curly pruning of bushes is not just a whim of gardeners who want to decorate their plot in an original way, but a real art, the roots of which go back to ancient times. It is generally accepted that the art of topiary originated in Persia and Ancient Egypt, but its greatest flowering occurred in the 15th century. It was at this time that Louis the Fifteenth stood at the reins of power in France, who wanted Versailles to be decorated with hedges. This fashion quickly took root in all European gardens.
Currently, topiary has not been forgotten; on the contrary, interest in it is experiencing a kind of fashion boom.
Nowadays, not only professionals and landscape designers are interested in the art of curly pruning of bushes, but also ordinary amateurs who want to create an individual style for their garden.
The most common suitable ones are the following bushes for decorative pruning:
- boxwood;
- holly;
- privet;
- cotoneaster
The first plant, despite its toxicity, is quite often used in garden compositions, requiring cutting twice a year. Yew requires similar care to boxwood and is also great for creating figurative statues. Holly is a thorny plant that can be used to create a real living fence. Cotoneaster is good for carving shapes, but it needs to be trimmed quite often for a neat and tidy appearance.
The ideal material for creating hedges is, which requires cutting only once a year in warm weather.
To create a beautiful style in your garden, you need to take care in advance of having specific tools:
- Secateurs used for cutting branches
- Garden knife - needed for cutting shoots
- Brush cutter - useful for crown formation
- Saw – needed to eliminate excess thick branches
- Lopper – used for remote pruning of branches
If you have decided to create topiary on your site for the first time, then you should not immediately start mastering complex shapes. It is best to start getting acquainted with this art with the simplest shapes: a cone, an oval, a ball.
You should also check all the tools: they must be in working order, in good condition, sharpened and functional.
If you are no longer new to this business and have decided to decorate your garden with more intricate figures, then frames made of steel rods will be of great benefit. This tool has recently begun to be used in topiary and serves as an assistant for creating more complex ideas.
Decorative trimming of bushes includes several stages of creating a composition.
- First you need to create a wire frame of the desired shape, into which the selected plant is placed. As it grows, shoots and branches may extend beyond the frame, which must be closely monitored. All unnecessary parts are cut off even at that moment if the branches on the opposite side have not yet reached the frame.
- It may take several years for a bush to grow until it reaches a certain shape, and during this entire time it is necessary to monitor its shape and trim it from different sides. As soon as the plant reaches the shape that was intended, the wire corset is removed, and you just need to take care of the resulting figure.
- To create complex decorative figures and sculptures, stationary templates are used, which are not removed, but are connected to the plant with the help of steel rods and remain there to give it the required shape.
- To create particularly complex shapes, special fillable templates are used in which the plant develops. Most often, such structures are filled with sphagnum moss and peat, and creeping plants are planted on them, for example, most often ivy. However, creating such complex figures requires certain skills and abilities, as well as a lot of experience, since they require careful care.
If you decide to start landscaping and creating an original landscape on your site, then you need to know the methods and techniques of trimming bushes.
- So, deciduous trees are pruned once a year in the spring, until the buds bloom. Due to last year's branches, they increase their volume by 5–10 cm.
- But plants used to create hedges need to be trimmed several times throughout the year. The first topiary trimming of the bushes must be done before the buds open, leaving 5 cm of growth from last year. The next haircut is made to the level of the first.
- If the fence is built using coniferous shrubs, then you should know that you cannot cut the bushes strictly vertically from the sides, since they should taper slightly towards the top. If this is not done, the lower part will very quickly be left without needles.
- In order for the crown of the plant to be lush and attract the eye with its density, it is recommended to prune young plants quite liberally. It is best to use a garden knife or pruning shears for this.
Beautiful decorative pruning of bushes can be carried out not only by specially trained professionals, but also by you personally in your own area. You just need to apply a little patience, attention and imagination. Heather lovers will find it useful.
Reviews and commentsOksana Dmitrievna 10/23/2014
Hello! I share my interesting experience of obtaining a rich harvest. I got it interview with Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Mikhail Chursin and inspired by the article, I decided to use his recommendations, and you know, I was right... All summer we ate cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden, and also prepared some for ourselves and our family for the winter. For those interested, here it is
The capital's parks and squares are decorated mainly with deciduous trees. Firstly, this happened historically. And secondly, and this is the main thing, deciduous trees are more resistant to the urban environment than conifers. They stabilize the oxygen content in gas-polluted conditions and enliven the monotony of the streets. The shade from the spreading crowns is perhaps the only place in Moscow where in the summer heat you can walk outdoors without inhaling the fumes of hot asphalt.
Trees that have received “Moscow registration” need to improve their crowns - both for aesthetic purposes and so as not to interfere with communications. One cannot do without the services of a gardener in the Moscow region, because a truly stylish estate is unthinkable without well-groomed trees.
| № | Types of jobs | Unit | Price |
| 1 | PC | from 500 rubles | |
| 2 | Curly haircut (topiary) of deciduous trees | PC | from 700 rubles |
| 3 | Pruning deciduous (ornamental) shrubs | PC | from 100 rubles |
| 4 | Curly pruning of deciduous (ornamental) shrubs | PC | from 200 rubles |
| 5 | Trimming deciduous hedges | 1 m.p. | from 200 rubles |
| 6 | Curly trimming of deciduous hedges | 1 m.p. | from 400 rubles |
| 7 | Trimming a coniferous hedge | 1 m.p. | from 300 rubles |
| 8 | Curly trimming of coniferous hedges | 1 m.p. | from 500 rubles |
| 9 | Topiary or topiary of conifers (standing alone) | PC | from 1000 rubles |
The plants in the photo look completely natural. Not everyone will notice that the master’s hand has worked thoroughly on them.
Formative pruningStructural, or formative, pruning is performed on young trees going through the formation stage. Thanks to it, the tree develops the correct crown shape characteristic of this species.
The formative type of pruning includes topiary cutting and the creation of hedges. For topiary, slow-growing, low-growing trees with small leaves that tolerate loss of up to 30% of green mass are suitable. For example, ornamental apple trees, small-leaved elm, Tatarian maple and ginnala, as well as some types of willow, pear and linden. In decorative pruning of deciduous trees, a high standard is used. On it you can create a crown of a natural or spherical shape.
Regulatory trimmingFor trees that have already reached the point of “youth”, with an already formed crown, regulatory pruning is used. It is needed to inhibit growth and preserve the appearance of the plant.
Regulatory crowning may be necessary when a tall tree creates inconvenience or dangerous situations, for example:
- Branches reach power lines;
- The crown of the tree blocks traffic lights, road signs, and visibility on the roads;
- The tree shades the windows of buildings, preventing sufficient lighting of the premises;
- Branches rest against windows, walls of houses, hang over roofs;
- The lower branches interfere with the passage of vehicles and the movement of pedestrians.
With the help of regulating pruning, the intended crown configuration is maintained. Sanitary pruning Starting in early spring, dry and disease-damaged, broken and frozen branches are cut out. At the same time, shoots that thicken the crown are removed, which in the future may interfere with the proper development of the plant. Sanitary pruning is carried out all summer, as “sick” or “inconvenient” branches are identified.
Old trees with dying branches need sanitary pruning the most. Dry branches that break off under strong winds can pose a danger to pedestrians and vehicles, and therefore must be removed. In most cases, sanitary pruning is applied comprehensively to the entire array or group of plants; this reduces the risk of transmission of infection.
Anti-aging pruningThe rejuvenation procedure is applied to old trees that are valuable for a city park or private property. It is carried out in stages, sometimes over several years. The purpose of rejuvenating pruning is to stimulate the growth of new shoots and restore the thinning crown. Old skeletal branches undergo dramatic shortening, and structural pruning is applied to newly growing young branches. Rejuvenation is usually carried out in early spring.
Anti-aging pruning of decorative deciduous trees: age of being slim is not a hindrance
With the help of pruning (formative, then regulating, sanitary and finally rejuvenating), the alley shown in the photo has been maintained in its intended state for many decades.
Timing for pruning deciduous treesDifferent tree species react differently to pruning, so this procedure should be approached taking into account the biological characteristics of the species. In the Moscow region, the optimal time for pruning is the end of the growing season. Starting from mid-September until the last days of October, you can safely submit applications for autumn pruning.
Spring pruning is done before the beginning of the growing season, but for some “crying” species, for example, birch and maple, this should be done after active sap flow has ended - in late spring or summer.
Our company provides services for regular and one-time pruning of deciduous trees, prices depend on their height. To clarify prices, we recommend downloading the price list or calling our consultant. The employees of the Plant Planet garden center have experience working with all species and varieties used in landscaping in Moscow and the region, and will carry out competent pruning based on the species and age of the tree; its role in landscape design and other factors will also be taken into account.