Prune topiary
Clip your topiary now to maintain a perfect shape and enjoy the fine structure this provides among the rest of your planting. The aim is to keep the growth compact and the surface as dense as possible, giving clean lines to what are often main focal points in a planting scheme.
It’s worth taking your time over this and using sharp, topiary shears for the detail. Complicated shapes need the finest finish to properly define them. The best results are achieved by clipping in late spring, now in midsummer and again in the autumn.
Topiary shapes can be used in your garden to punctuate a long border or hedge line. Those in pots can flank a gate, path or doorway. Box, Japanese holly and yew are all good candidates for topiary work. Try to reduce the plant’s stress by clipping it when the weather is mild and help the plant to recover by top dressing around the base with a general fertiliser, then soak with water and add a layer of mulch.