Get in shape
Do-it-yourself topiary is fun, rewarding and not as hard as you think either
Topiary will add to the year-round appeal of any garden. While readyformed shapes are pricey to buy, it’s easy to grow your own from scratch by rooting your cuttings or buying inexpensive young plants from nurseries or garden centres, then training them into shape.
The classic topiary plant is box, though other small-leaved, close-growing evergreens can be used, including some conifers.
RootInG cUttInGS
If you don’t have a suitable parent plant growing in your garden, buy a pot-grown box and plant it in the garden or a larger pot, then feed and water it well to encourage strong shoots that can be used as cuttings.
To make cuttings, snip two to three-inch long pieces from the tips of strong, healthy shoots between now and mid-August.
Strip the leaves from the lower half of the cutting. Dip the base of each cutting in rooting powder (or a similar liquid formulation). This acts as insurance against rotting and encourages rapid root formation, but most cuttings should root quite well without.
Fill a six-inch pot with multipurpose compost and push five cuttings in round the sides to half their length, then water. Place a large, loose poly bag over the top of the pot, supporting the centre with a short piece of twig to hold it up like a tent. This traps humidity – you should soon see drops of condensation form inside – which encourages rooting.
Stand the pot of cuttings in a light place but out of direct sunlight, somewhere the temperature won’t fluctuate badly. A cool, north-facing windowsill indoors is ideal. Check every few days and water again when needed. Aim to prevent the compost drying out, but don’t leave the pot standing in water.
When the cuttings are well rooted, after perhaps three months, pot them individually in three-and-a-half-inch pots filled with a 50:50 mixture of multipurpose compost and John Innes No 1 potting compost. Stand them outside in a semi-shady place or in a cold frame with the top off. Keep watered and after four weeks, start liquid-feeding every two weeks to encourage strong growth.
Use strong scissors or sheep shears to trim every two to three months
tRAInInG AnD tRIMMInG
When the original pot is full of roots, repot it into a five-inch pot, using John Innes No 2 compost.
Push a wire topiary-training frame into the pot. These are available at garden centres ready made in a range of both 2D and 3D shapes, including everything from spirals to chickens. Or create your own from strong, plastic-coated garden wire or even an old wire coat hanger.
As the cutting grows, tie the main stem up to the template to make it follow the required shape. When side shoots form along its length, nip the tips out when they reach an inch or two
long to encourage the plant to grow bushier and fill out the shape. Once the plant reaches roughly the right shape and size, use strong scissors or singlehanded sheep shears every two to three months to keep it trimmed into shape.
If you want to train a simple shape such as a sphere, pyramid or a more random cloud formation, there is no need to use a frame. Simply start clipping the plant roughly to shape, taking off only the very tips of the shoots so the size is allowed to increase by an inch or so between clippings. This way you quickly build up a good topiary plant that is also very dense, with no gaps or holes spoiling the shape. It’s fun to do and you will save a fortune.