Most people tend to do everything quickly, which is reflected in this painstaking garden art. If previously this work required decades, today it is possible to form a fancy tree crown in just a few months. Who managed to make the hard work of gardeners so simple? The most hasty nation in the world is the Americans, who, during a break between lightning-fast swallowing of another portion of fast food, figured out what to do to quickly and easily get fast topiary.
That is why today it is very easy to grow intricate green figures - you don’t have to wait several years for the tree to grow, then trim its crown for a long time in order to get a certain configuration of the plant. You just buy a wire frame and fill it soil mixture, plant ground cover plants in it - and topiary built.
An exciting activity that can brighten up the monotony of everyday life has emerged thanks to people’s desire for variety in life. Gardeners often transform their garden plots with original plant figures. This could be ducks or a peacock, an elephant or a lion, or perhaps the presence of a flower car in the garden.
Topiary in the shape of a car.
Topiary landscaping is an ancient art that has been redone in a modern way. You can create topiary yourself in just one day. However, with large-scale ideas that can amaze the neighbors from the surrounding mansions with the scope and breadth, naturally, more time will be needed.
At first, don’t dream about too large compositions, but try yourself by creating a small garden figurine using the frame technique. Only after you succeed, you can perform more complex compositions.
Independent topiary construction, which uses ready-made metal carcass, is possible for all gardeners who have the proper patience and perseverance. First, choose a frame for the intended flower figure. Moreover, the figure should, with its size and shape, harmoniously complement the landscape of the land plot. A small but expressive form is preferable, on which you can create an accent that will not fail to attract the attention of others.
To make ready-made frames, which are offered for sale by specialized garden stores, wire with a diameter of 2-3 mm is used. Such frames are lattice structures that are made with certain gaps for penetration inside them. In addition, there must be a lid on top of the frame, thanks to which it is even easier to get to the “insides” of metal structures in order to fill them with a substrate, which is a mixture of soil and peat, or sphagnum moss.
Frame for topiary in the shape of a turtle.
Before starting to fill the frame, it is necessary to prepare the moss, which is soaked in warm water about half an hour. When you fill the frame with substrate, try not to forget about the prudent creation of holes for the subsequent planting of groundcover or climbing, succulent or herbaceous plants garden crops. It is advisable to plant juveniles, saxifrage, sedum, loosestrife, ivy or grapes in these holes.
If you are forming a topiary using climbing plants, you need to move the earthen ball from plastic containers into metal forms, and distribution of shoots along the frame.
Moreover, the shoots must be grabbed using U-shaped clips. If you decide to create a figure that has a medium or big size, in order to lighten its weight, place bags filled with pieces of crushed polystyrene foam into the substrate.
Frame topiary requires constant care: regular watering of plants and fertilizing the soil, as well as pinching and pruning. Remember that such a green sculpture should not be left outdoors during the winter. It is better to bring it into a room that is not heated and in which the air temperature is about 5 degrees. If the topiary is large in volume or weight, leave it on the site, just cover it with a wooden box that is insulated with straw or polystyrene foam.
Express topiary came into being thanks to people’s desire to speed up the process of creating green figures with complex shapes. This method for forming green sculptures is quite simple. Spring in open ground climbing plants are planted that quickly form shoots: periwinkle, maiden grapes, ivy or hops.
How to make topiary with your own hands.
After this, a metal mesh frame is installed on top of the planting - the basis for the future topiary. The plants grow and their branches begin to spread throughout the frame. They must be secured using a rope made of natural materials, or trim. By the end of the season, the frame has time to overgrow and completely cover the metal rods under its green cover. The main thing is to always remember about timely watering and feeding of topiary plants.
The ancient Roman gardener could not even imagine that modern society It will be possible to transform art related to park classics in this way. When the ancient Romans had free time, they created living sculptures, without trying at all to speed up the process. On the contrary, they preferred the leisurely search for ideal shapes and sizes.
Making topiary of a classic shape.
If you are an adherent of the classical approach, then perform topiary the way it was liked by the ancient Romans, and later by the gardeners who lived and worked in the 18th and 19th centuries. You don't have to be a wizard to do this. It is enough that you are patient, that you have imagination and a sharply honed instrument:
Some tips that will be useful to you when equipping a classic topiary:
First, the skill and hand are “trained” by making simple geometric shapes. It is possible to complicate simple but three-dimensional figures, for which it is transformed into another, for example, a cube is turned into a ball, and a cylinder becomes a pyramid or a cone.
First you need to understand what kind of figure you want to get when performing your first exercise. You need to find a specimen of a tree or bush that is five years old or older, and also has a well-developed root system and crown. Its dimensions should be larger than the intended dimensions of the figure. Ideally, topiary can be made from the following plants:
The best time for a topiary haircut is March-April or June-August. You should not cut plants in autumn days, as this will weaken them before they head off for the winter.
Topiary of a simple frame shape.
Must be followed step by step instructions to make a cube-shaped topiary:
A square having the desired length of the side of the cube is drawn on the ground, directly under the crown.
Installation required at the corners of a square wooden slats or bamboo sticks with a diameter of 2-3 cm. They are fastened together using horizontal transverse strips. The result is a frame - a landmark.
Using trellis shears, make a rough cut to roughly outline the outline of the intended figure. Cut your hair first top edges, then process the side edges.
After checking the sides of the cube for evenness, it is necessary to correct the planes and proceed to finishing cutting, during which the volume is gradually trimmed.
Grab your pruning shears for the finishing touch. At the same time, small branches that stand out from the overall composition are removed.
From time to time, evaluate the correctness of the forms from the outside. To do this, you need to move 3-4 meters away from the sculpture.
By truncating the faces of a cube, you can get a topiary, which is a ball. Ball-shaped topiary is best obtained from the following plants:
To obtain a cylindrical topiary, thuja occidentalis is suitable, a natural variety of which is the column shape. For beautiful cylinders the following are also suitable:
Column-shaped topiary is trimmed, just like cubic topiary. A circle is drawn on the ground under the tree crown, guide stakes made of wood are installed, and a cylinder is cut out. Topiaries are beautiful, trimmed like a cone or truncated cone.
To build a frame for a cone-shaped topiary, you need to dig in three or more poles and fasten them in the center - this is the place where the top of the cone, similar to an Indian wigwam, is supposed to be located. Beginning topiaries are supported by nature itself, which created the plant - thuja occidentalis, which has a cone-shaped crown.
Topiary of complex frame shape.
To train your hand, you can try yourself by performing pyramidal topiaries with three and four sides. So your garden will be decorated with a mini-complex, which is Egyptian pyramids, which will make the land completely unique. Gradually, you can become a perfect master, and gradually begin to create such complex green sculptures, which are made in the form of a spiral, tiered geometric volumes with various combinations, and a little later create figures of animals and people.
Trimming classic topiary is greatly simplified thanks to a removable metal frame placed on top of the crown of a tree or bush. The use of such an auxiliary element makes it easier to obtain topiary yourself and is most useful for beginner topiaries.
The planted plant grows without removing the mesh garment, thus adapting to the necessary shapes, and the gardener only frees it from unruly branches that make their way in the wrong direction.
After the crown is finally formed, the frame is removed. True, many gardeners do not like this method of equipping a topiary, because the plants can grow together with the frame to such an extent that later, when it is removed, the crown can be damaged.
The ideal way to show the world your own creative abilities and assert yourself is to create garden figures and sculptures. You don't have to graduate as an artist or be an advanced designer to do this. A little imagination proper care and trimming plants will soon provide your garden with a park of exotic animals and green sculptures that vaguely resemble the appearance and shape of your beloved woman.
Curly pruning of bushes and trees, as an art, has its roots, literally and figuratively, going back to the times of the Roman Empire. The first element in the form of a cube or ball, cut by the deft hands of a gardener, appeared godfather garden topiary.
Most beautiful garden plots Now it is impossible to imagine without original and expressive figures in the form of geometric volumes, architectural structures or funny animals. Today, the fashion for topiary from flowers or plants is at its peak. But to master the techniques and techniques of a curly haircut, you will need patience and imagination, as well as love and time.
The first timid attempts to create something similar in Gurzuf Park were clumsy and inexpressive. Something was missing when creating the figures: either the gardener was afraid to cut off the excess, or he lacked wild imagination and the embodiment of his ideas. If you fully possess all these qualities, or strive to acquire them, then this type garden art for you!
But the imagination of newly-minted topiary gardeners knows no bounds at the dachas and landscape areas. Today, magnificent figures can be seen not only in boring Jurassic parks. How to become a real toriarian?
There are several techniques for creating topiary. These are frameless and frame technologies.
Frameless technology is based on manual trimming of shrubby plants using garden shears. With frameless technology, the accuracy of cutting and the creation of the required volume depends on the skill and skill of the gardener. With frameless technology, you should choose a suitable plant so that the possibility of an overgrown crown influences the choice of the shape of the desired figure. This largely depends on the type of plant and the density of the foliage, its length and the shape of the leaves. Let us tell you that to create a beautiful topiary or hedge, it is preferable to use thuja, boxwood, privet (Ligustrim) and conifers.
Not all plants and shrubs are suitable for creating topiary. These should be plants with hard and fast-growing leaves, such as thuja and boxwood. Thuja is a genus of evergreens coniferous trees and shrubs of small height of the cypress family. There are several types of thuja that are suitable for creating topiary.
Boxwood is also a representative of evergreen shrubs and has about 40 species. Boxwood is a shrub up to 12 m high with densely leafy shoots. Sessile leaves are different sizes. Boxwood is planted in the spring and, when rooted, the leaves are cut for the first time. With timely watering and spraying of the bush, it does not stop the growth of shoots, which ensures a dense green crown.
Privet is a genus of shrubby plants in the olive family and has 40 species.
For sculptures and figures, climbing plants are used, namely: akebia quintuple, common ivy, rotundifolia, maiden vine triacum and quinquefolia. The duration of green cover is determined by the climate of the area and the variety of plant for topiary with the possibility of wintering.
Helpful tips: choosing plants for topiary
To create shapes and sculptures with your own hands, it is better to give preference to plants with small leaves, which are capable of forming replacement shoots throughout the growing season. It’s not bad if there are a lot of living dormant buds on the branch, ready for subsequent foliage growth. Now it's up to the right choice tool for cutting plants.
A real topiary workshop should have in its arsenal a powerful tool - a tool for cutting foliage. What criteria should you use to select a cutting tool?
For daily care of figures and shrub sculptures, you will need a minimum set of tools, which is represented by sharpened trellis (garden) scissors, pruning shears (straight and side), a lopper and a saw.
Care using tools involves regular leveling of the crown and cutting off growing shoots according to the meaning of the plant. In addition, care involves watering and feeding the plant.
The frame technique is fundamentally different from a curly haircut.
Having mastered the technique, you can confidently answer the question: “How to make topiary with your own hands.” IN frame technology topiary relies on the technique of filling the frame of a figure with a soil mixture and then planting vegetation in the frame.
The process of creating a figure or sculpture consists of the following stages:
Selecting the location of the figure and plant
Creating a layout and wire frame
Filling the frame with soil mixture
Planting vegetation in a filled frame.
The basis of topiary frame is a homemade or purchased ready-made wire frame. Using the frame, they create complex sculptural forms and tiny tabletop compositions.
Any step-by-step topiary using the frame technique begins with a sketch of a wire frame and embodies the idea in a cardboard model. Layout will allow you to make adjustments to the image of the sculpture and eliminate modeling errors.
The anatomy of the frame must correspond to the design of the figure. Let us tell you that if a hare is planned, then the emphasis must be increased on the long ears, and if it is an elephant, then on the trunk and tail. The long hind legs of a hare are anatomically completely unsuitable for an elephant and vice versa. There is also a new feature in topiary – animals with lamps.
Imagine a lynx or a tiger standing on its two hind legs and holding a lamp in its front legs. Therefore, all the dynamics of the green beast will have to be conveyed in the frame.
Then the frame of the mold is assembled from the wire, taking into account the possibilities of layering until three-dimensionality is formed. At the intersection points, the wire is secured by welding, ensuring the stability of the sculpture. The finished frame is braided with a mesh with cells no larger than 10 mm.
Helpful tips: collecting soil for filling
The soil mixture for the contents of the frame is carefully selected. In one container, mix the nutrient mixture and soil, consisting of leaf soil, turf and the top layer of peat. Then finely chopped straw is added to the resulting mass. Thanks to the presence of straws and the moistening of the soil mixture, the latter will not spill out of the frame. The mixture is then made into balls and placed in a frame container.
How to fill the frame with soil is shown here.
The final stage of creating a frame topiary is landscaping the filler. The filler is populated with plants in the order in which they will subsequently grow. This means that the “culture” is first planted, and then the lawn. For example, to create an imitation of the skin of a lion, initially sprouted seeds were infused into the soil mixture, and then for the mane, a lawn mixture with long stems was added.
Let us tell you that filling the frame with landscaping begins with small details - tail, ears, beak and limbs. The planting technology is as follows: make a hole in a lump of mixture with a sharp object to a depth that will accommodate seeds or plants with roots.
After such an injection, the depression is sealed and compacted with moss.
Each frame figure is equipped with support posts and platforms, thanks to which the frame, filled with soil mixture, stands stably in a designated place.
For ease of maintenance of the structure, the system is thought out and implemented drip irrigation. The tubes are placed along the frame for uniform watering, making it easier to care for an original and picturesque object suburban area- for topiary.
In the interior you can often find a homemade topiary or a tree of happiness, which attracts good luck, financial wealth and good mood.
How to make a tree of happiness with your own hands? Everything is very simple. To do this you will need the following set of materials, namely:
Let's prepare necessary materials:
Wrapping pencil with tape and insert it into the ball. Alternatively, you can fix it using polyurethane foam in a mug.
Next, you need to insert and artificial flowers so that there are no empty spaces. After this, the finished crown is strung onto the trunk. Decorative moss or grass is used as decoration. Also, in addition, you can plant an artificial butterfly on the edge of the mug.
Photo of a tree of happiness with your own hands from corrugated paper. This topiary is made according to the same principle as topiary in a cup. Only to decorate it, instead of artificial flowers, you can use flowers made of multi-colored corrugated paper.
Topiaries made from aromatic plants are very popular. They serve not only to decorate the interior, but also to fill it with aroma. Happiness trees made from coffee beans are very popular.
To make such a tree you will need the following materials:
Coffee Tree Making Guide
Using scissors, you need to make one hole in the plastic blank.
Let's sort it out whitewash brush on strands.
Attach the strands to one end of the branch. For these purposes we use an elastic band for money. Coat the future “trunk” with glue and glue it in a spiral threads. You can secure the thread at the other end of the stick with an elastic band.
Glue the ball-shaped blank with threads Brown. You can also take fibers from poplar fiber for these purposes.
Using super glue, liquid nails or glue gun, glue the ball with the first layer grains.
Tip: it is best to glue the grains in a chaotic order. Glue must be applied directly to each grain and quickly glued to the workpiece. All work must be carried out in a well-ventilated area.
The second layer is done in the same way.
Create an original one tree pot. To do this you will need strands from the brush. We coat the bottom of the container universal glue and place it on the strands laid out on the table. Threads that protrude beyond the edges must be trimmed.
We cut the strands of the brush. They should be 3 cm longer than the height of the container. Next, you need to apply glue to the glass. Moreover, the glue is not applied to the entire surface. You should leave 2.5-3 cm on top. Next, the container is glued with strands prepared in advance. After this, it is tied at the bottom with twine, and the excess is cut off. It is also necessary to trim the strands from above. As a result of this, the threads should rise two centimeters above the glass.
Pour into a container filler. This could be sand or gypsum. You can also use polyurethane foam for these purposes. Next, you need to move the strands at the top and place a funnel with a barrel on the container.
The container should be tied at the top twine.
Finally, you can place a few coffee beans near the barrel. You can also lay moss at the base of the composition and place an insect on the crown.
To create such a flat coffee topiary with a magnet, you need to stock up on the following materials:
Step-by-step instruction
The first thing you need to do before starting work is to turn on heat gun so that it warms up.
While the heat gun is heating up, you can do blanks. To do this, you need to draw a circle and a pot on cardboard and cut out these details using scissors.
Assembling the tree parts. Crown and pot connect using a flat stick. To do this, you need to insert the stick into the cardboard blank so that it is between two layers of paper.
To fix the parts together we use glue.
The workpiece must be glued burlap on both sides.
Tip: the burlap on one side should be equal to the diameter of the workpiece, and on the other side - slightly larger. This way you can hide the ends of the cardboard and the tree will look beautiful from behind.
Improvised potty decorate as well as the crown.
We glue it on the back magnets.
Decorating the crown coffee beans. They are attached with glue along the edges of the workpiece. Moreover, the grains should be arranged with the cuts downwards.
We glue the next row so that the grains are arranged with the cuts facing up. We alternate subsequent rows in the same way as the first and second rows.
To give the crown volume, it is necessary to glue several layers in its central part.
Finally, you will need to glue decorative ribbons and lace.
To make this decoration you will need the following materials:
Step-by-step instructions for making topiary - the tree of happiness
Inserted into the workpiece boxwood branches so that there are no voids.
The branches that will serve as the trunk must be tied wire.
A hole is made in the spherical blank and the ball is placed on the barrel.
A layer of moss must be placed on top of the gravel.
The crown can be decorated with artificial flowers.
Topiary can also be made from artificial paper money. Such decoration can attract financial well-being to its owner. Making such a money topiary with your own hands is not particularly difficult.
For manufacturing you will need the following materials:
Step-by-step instruction
Decorating the pot. Colors top part, about one or two centimeters. For these purposes, it is best to use acrylic paint. Cover the rest of the pot with twine. For these purposes, apply a thin layer of glue over the entire surface using a toothpick. The end of the twine is securely fixed with glue.
The basis for the crown we make it from old newspaper and thread. To do this, simply crumple newspaper sheets and wrap them with thread. In our case, the workpiece is about 10-11 cm in diameter. In order for the ball to be durable, it must be coated with PVA glue. After the glue has dried, you need to make a hole three to four centimeters deep in the workpiece.
12-15 skewers need to be tied together. Their number depends on the diameter of the paper blank. We tie the skewers on both sides with thread. Using a heat gun we pump hot glue into the hole and immediately insert the tied swords there. After the glue has dried, you can begin wrapping the trunk with twine. During the wrapping process, coat the barrel with glue. We fix the ends of the twine.
Napkins or newspapers must be torn into pieces. PVA glue is mixed one to one with water. Next, one or two layers are applied to the newspaper blank glue mixture in such a way that threads and newspaper are not visible.
Let's do gypsum mortar and pour it into the pot. There should be about one centimeter left to the top edge of the pot. The trunk must be installed in the center of the pot. If necessary, hold the barrel with the workpiece until the mixture hardens. This process takes about 15-20 minutes.
While the plaster hardens, you can make blanks from artificial banknotes. To do this, they need to be cut in the shape of a circle. To make disks you will need artificial money measuring 15.5x6.5 cm. On average, our ball will need 17-18 disks. The paper blanks must be folded in the form of an accordion with a width of about one centimeter. We tie the resulting accordion in the middle with a ribbon, and glue its ends on both sides.
We glue the bills to the ball from bottom to top. Hot glue is used for these purposes. We close the gaps with coins.
From paper money We make elements of different shapes and attach them in a chaotic manner.
You can decorate plaster using sisal.
We place small ones under the tree burlap bags. To do this, cut out a circle from the fabric, the diameter of which is about 9-10 cm. Take a needle with a strong thread and stitch it along the entire circumference at a distance of 1.5 cm from the edge. After this we tighten the thread. We place a large coin inside the bag and fill it with cotton wool or padding polyester on top. We tighten the bag and secure it with several stitches.
Decorative parts should be glued to the pot, and the crown can be decorated with coins.
Do-it-yourself topiary made from ribbons looks very impressive. To make such a decoration you will need the following materials:
The tape is cut into small strips and wound around your finger to form rings. Then, one by one, you need to attach the formed rings to the workpiece. At the same time, make sure that there are no empty spaces on the ball. On one side, the pencil is inserted into a ball with ribbons, and on the other, it is inserted into a pot filled with gravel. As a decoration, you can put decorative frost or decorate with trimmings from ribbons.
Topiary can also be made from fresh flowers. To do this you will need the following materials:
We wrap the inside of the pot with a bag and fill it with putty solution so that 5-7 cm remains on top. Insert a stick into the solution and leave it overnight. After the putty has hardened, the remainder of the bag must be cut off.
Cut out a circle from a floral sponge and fill the pot with it to the very top. Next, wet the sponge and place a layer of moss on top. You need to stick roses in the central part of the sponge. They can be secured using decorative tapes with wooden rods. Bows can be used for decoration.
DIY paper topiaries are very popular. They can be made according to any of the above instructions. For the base you will need a polystyrene foam ball, a decorative small vase, a pencil and paper flowers. To make flowers, you can use both regular and corrugated paper. To revive the topiary, you can use regular moss, which is usually placed in a vase.
To make such a topiary you will need a standard set: a ball-shaped blank, a pot, stems, ribbons and about 300 grams of colored candies. The process of making such a topiary is standard. The rod is inserted into the pot, the ball-shaped workpiece is covered with a red ribbon. The lollipops are glued on top using a glue gun. To avoid staining the candies, it is better to take them with tweezers. The space around the trunk can be decorated with glass pebbles or large beads.
This decoration is easy to make with your own hands. On each lollipop you need to stick a drawn eye. Next, all the candies are stuck into a sphere-shaped blank made of polystyrene foam.
A topiary made from balloons looks beautiful. In order to make such a decoration you will need the following materials:
The process of making such a tree is standard. Only on the workpiece in the shape of a ball, instead of flowers, they attach air balloons, connected with each other.
One more original idea You can call making your own topiary from shells. Such a tree will remind you for a long time summer vacation on the seashore. To create such a masterpiece you need to stock up on the following materials:
First we do tree crown. For this purpose on foam ball it is necessary to glue sisal and shells using a heat gun.
Next, let's move on to the device. trunk. Our barrel will be made of wire, which must be wrapped with white thread and twisted. Two trunks will be made for our tree. Only the second one will be wrapped with twine.
The next stage is manufacturing pot. To fix the tree, foam will be used in the shape of a cylinder, which must be attached to the bottom of the pot with glue. The trunk is attached to the crown on one side, and stuck into the foam on the other. For fixation we use hot glue.
For strength, fill the distance between the flowerpot and the foam with paper, glue it and cover it with cardboard. Next, first place beige sisal in the container, and then white. Seashells of different sizes and shapes will also be used as decoration.
To give bright accents applies a satin ribbon. The crown can also be decorated with beads on a fishing line.
First, let's make crown For these purposes, you can take a ready-made base ball, or you can make it yourself from newspapers and threads. In our case, the base was made of newspaper, which was crumpled into a ball with a diameter of 6-7 cm.
Let's start filling the pot plaster. After the solution is poured, you need to insert the barrel there and leave it to harden.
While the solution hardens, you can begin making decor for the crown. To do this, you need to cut a small piece of sisal and make a ball out of it. In total, you will need to make about 25-40 lumps.
To decorate the trunk we use lace or twine. We fix the sisal balls on the workpiece with glue. We decorate the space around the trunk with sisal, decorative ribbons, beads, etc.
This homemade felt topiary looks original. To make such a decoration, you need to prepare the following materials:
Manufacturing procedure
The most labor-intensive part of the work is considered making flowers. All blanks are made from fabric circles of different sizes. A minimum of 30 such blanks will be needed for a topiary. In order for the circle to turn out volumetric rose, they must be arbitrarily cut in a spiral. The rosette turns out more magnificent if it has many turns. Also, small circles-bottoms are cut out before each flower, which are attached below. To decorate, attach a bead to the center of the flower.
Trunk can be painted with acrylic paint.
Crumpled wood was used as a filler for the pot. paper filled with glue.
Place a piece of green around the trunk felt, which will imitate grass.
We connect the trunk with the pot and the crown.
We attach flower and leaf blanks to the crown.
We decorate the product using ribbons, ribbons and beads.
With the onset of cold weather, many people are thinking about making their own New Year's topiary. To do this, you need to prepare the following materials:
Manufacturing procedure
With help acrylic paint white color it is necessary to paint the pot with inside and fill it up polyurethane foam. While the foam has not hardened, insert a branch there, which will be the trunk of the New Year's tree.
We fix New Year's balls, candies and pine cones on the crown using wire, toothpicks and glue.
The cones can be painted white and gold.
We decorate the topiary with New Year's tinsel.
Topiary as a species garden design, known since Ancient Rome. In the gardens of wealthy citizens one could see intricately trimmed trees and shrubs. Plants were given strict geometric shapes, patterns were cut out, and even figures of animals or birds were formed. Currently, the art of garden topiary is still at the height of fashion. In parks, public and private gardens, in city squares you can see not only neatly trimmed hedges, but also real works of art - green figures of people, animals, compositions of flowering sculptures.
In addition to the imagination and skill of the gardener, choice plays a huge role in the successful result of creating a topiary suitable plant. It must meet several requirements:
Many trees and shrubs meet these requirements. They can be divided into two groups: deciduous plants and conifers. Conifers grow more slowly, you will have to wait longer for the results of your work, but they are decorative all year round. The following conifers are suitable for creating garden sculptures:
Deciduous plants for topiary:
Whatever the gardener's choice, the plant must be healthy. As a rule, the formation of the necessary forms begins no earlier than the tree is five years old. By this time, it will have formed a well-developed root system and will quickly recover after cutting.
There are clipped and framed topiaries. The first ones are simpler; even a beginner can create them. Plants are given a haircut simple shapes:
Frame ones are more complex and allow you to create real green sculptures of animals, people and any objects (cars, houses, furniture). For such forms, a metal frame is made, inside which plants are planted. They fill the space of the frame; all unnecessary branches extending outwards are cut off. Small parts of the frame are filled with a mixture of peat and moss, where seedlings are planted, achieving the desired density and volume. It is not at all necessary to create a sculpture from one type of plant. Forms consisting of foliage look very picturesque different shades and shapes. Often flowering crops or cereals are additionally planted in a frame topiary.
For work, the gardener will need: a lopper, trellis shears, pruning shears, a level, wire and slats for constructing the frame, a template, and garden varnish for covering the cuts. All cutting tools must be sharp.
If you plan to arrange a topiary in the shape of a ball or other complex shape, you cannot do without making a template. Lines of the required shapes are drawn on a piece of cardboard or plywood, and the excess is cut off. For example, if you plan to trim the crown of a tree in the shape of a ball, then an arc of half a circle is drawn on the template, the right size. The inner part of the circle is removed.
When working with a seedling, the template is applied vertically to the crown, and all shoots extending beyond it are cut off. Here it is important to hold the template evenly relative to the vertical so that the ball is formed on all sides without distortion.
You can make a template for a spherical topiary from wire. An arc of the desired shape and size is bent from it, and small hooks are bent at the ends. The lower end is attached (not tightly!) to the trunk of the seedling from below, the upper hook of the template clings to the central vertical branch (if there is one). Carefully guiding the template in a circle around the plant, cut off the excess shoots.
For more complex shapes, the wire frame is bent directly around the seedling. Sometimes a metal or plastic flexible mesh is used, securing it over the main frame. If you paint it in advance in the color of the tree’s crown, it will become completely invisible.
The grid greatly facilitates the work when creating a green sculpture.
During the season, the sculpture is regularly trimmed, giving the edges clarity. All the beauty geometric shapes in plants - in their even and straight lines. The slightest carelessness and crookedness is noticeable and ugly.
I recently visited the beautiful Thai botanical garden Tweechol Botanic Garden, which is located in Northern Thailand - in the city of Chiang Mai, and was once again amazed at the skill of the Thais in the field of topiary art. I was wondering - maybe I could make a couple of green sculptures at my dacha? I am studying this topic for myself and sharing my findings with you.
If we have enough patience to take care of the garden, then we are quite capable of making a topiary at the dacha.
Topiary art is the creation of green figures from plants, a kind of living sculptures. Previously formation It took decades to create a bizarre shape from wood, but now faster ways of creating a topiary figure have been invented. The process was accelerated by the use of a ready-made wire frame. How to quickly create a topiary in your dacha? There are two simple methods.
We start by choosing the shape of the frame - inexperienced gardeners are recommended to take something not very large and of a simple configuration. Now let's choose a place for the green sculpture. The best background for it would be a flat paved area or a section of lawn. A topiary would also look good in the center of a bright flower bed with low flowers. In all cases, it is advisable that this form be viewed from different places plot and looked harmoniously from any angle.
The finished frame can be purchased at a special store. garden and garden supply store. It is usually made of 3mm thick wire and looks like a lattice structure with convenient access to the inside (for laying the substrate). The frame is filled with a mixture of moss and earth - you will need to make holes in the earthen coma where the plants will be planted.
It will be easiest for you with ground covers and succulents - they do not require watering and grow quite slowly. If you want to make a green sculpture from hanging plants, then you will need one or more seedlings with a lump. Place the earthen lump inside the frame, and arrange the shoots beautifully on the surface and secure with thin wire or clamps.
During the warm season, you will have to care for the topiary - watering, feeding with an aqueous solution with mineral fertilizers, trim the shoots. If the plants are perennial, then for the winter it will need to be removed into a room without heating. They are best preserved at a temperature of +3+8 degrees C.
It will not be difficult to create a topiary from climbing plants like hops, grapes, ivy. You will need to plant the seedlings in the ground and place a form over them on which the plant can climb. You can make a similar shape with your own hands. One of budget options- a frame made of wooden slats, which is tied with thick twine to clarify the shape. In this way you can make simple shapes - cubes, pyramids, cylinders. If you have enough imagination, you can make more complex forms - animals and birds.
Pick up the vines during the first months, they will close the frame and you will get a garden sculpture with almost no investment.
