One of the most popular trends in modern landscape design is topiary art. Topiary are geometric figures and sculptures from garden plants. A similar way of decorating the landscape was born in ancient Rome.
From trees and shrubs, craftsmen create topiary figures in the form of balls, cubes, people and animals. Unusual creations make the garden unlike any other, lively and interesting.
Varieties
The art of sculpting plants is diverse in technique and style. There are two types of topiary figures:
The traditional technique involves the finished tree, which is given the desired shape with the help of shearing. Simple shapes for the garden (cubes, balls, cones) can be created with simple cropping on the eye, without using other materials. Complex structures are obtained using a metal frame of a certain shape, dug in the ground near the plant. When a tree grows up and begins to go beyond the borders of the frame, it is pruned, and in the end the desired shape is obtained.
Frame technology is more laborious in nature. It differs from the traditional one by the presence of a special metal frame in which a tree or shrub is grown. Pre-make the frame, put soil in it for planting. Then planted culture. She, growing up, fills the frame. Branches that go beyond it are cut off. The plant is looked after by regularly watering and cutting.
Plants
Not any plant can create a green sculpture. A suitable should have the following characteristics:
- resistance to winter frosts;
- unpretentiousness to growing conditions;
- the presence of substitute shoots;
- specific shape of the crown;
- slow growth.
These properties differ plants:
- western thuja;
- ordinary spruce;
- alpine currant ;
- small-leaved elm;
- cotoneaster is brilliant.
Of course, 3D shapes can also be created from other plants. And these cultures are most suitable for the climatic conditions of central Russia.
Nowadays, many owners of their own garden sites use topiary gardening. Step-by-step descriptions of creating shapes will be discussed later.
Wireframe method
The necessary frame can be made of 2-3 mm wire or purchased in a special store. The finished frame has gaps for penetration. There is a cover on top for access to the interior of the sculpture, so that it is convenient to fill it with an earthen substrate or moss. By the way, before filling, the moss is soaked in water for about 30 minutes.
When filling the framework with a substrate, you need to make holes where they plant climbing plants, herbs or succulents. Perfect for this:
- ivy;
- grapes;
- stone rose;
- loosestrife;
- saxifrage.
Creating a topiary from climbing plants, plants with a lump of earth are transplanted from a plastic container into a metal frame, and the shoots are distributed on a rack and fixed with paper clips. To facilitate large topiary figures, bags with foam balls are placed inside.
Caring for the topiary, it is watered, trimmed, pinched. In winter, the figure is brought into a cool room or simply covered with a warm box.
Express Topiary
Specialists simplified the process of creating a topiary and proposed the following scheme:
- In spring, climbing plants (ivy, hops, grapes) are planted in the ground.
- Above the landings, a frame is installed.
- As the plants grow, their branches are distributed along the frame, fixed and pruned.
- By the end of summer, the skeleton of the frame is completely closed by green shoots.
- Further care consists in watering and cutting plants.
Classic technology
Creating a topiary using traditional technology will require a lot of patience, imagination, and the presence of a sharp garden tool.
It is better to start with the simplest geometric shapes: ball, cone, cube. Cutting plants is best in March-April or summer. In the fall, it is not recommended to cut, this will undermine the plant before winter.
The pattern creation scheme is as follows:
- A bush or an adult tree with powerful roots and a lush crown is selected. It can be spruce, hawthorn, black-fronted.
- On the earth's surface under a tree, a shape is drawn, for example, a square, if a topiary figure is created in the form of a cube.
- In the corners of the square put rails or sticks and fasten with trims. This will be an indicative frame.
- They use a hedge trimmer to cut the plant, giving an approximate shape. Better to start from above, then process the sides.
- Check the sides for evenness and gradually trim them.
- Pruning shears cut small branches.
This creates simple shapes for the garden.
Sophisticated Geometric Patterns
The ball is considered a complex figure in topiary art. It can be obtained from the cube, cutting its faces. Best suited for this purpose: thuja, barberry, yew, boxwood and other plants. So, for example, you can create a topiary figure “Globe” using plants that differ in shades of green.
Cylindrical outlines are obtained from western arborvitae, larch, cirrus, linden. To get such a figure, adhere to the following scheme:
- On the earth they draw a circle.
- Set stakes of wood.
- Cut out the cylinder.
To create a conical shape, three poles are instilled and fastened at an imaginary peak.
Then you can proceed with the construction of pyramidal forms, spirals, tiers. Having learned how to make them, they proceed to the creation of figures of people and animals.
Traditional wireframe technology
Creating topiary figures, the frame can be used to simplify the process of cutting the desired shapes from plants. To do this, you need a removable metal frame, which is installed on top of a tree. This technique is usually used by novice topiary.
The plant develops in a mesh frame, and the master only needs to trim the broken branches. Once the crown is formed, the frame is removed. However, this is not always easy to do, often a tree grows together with its “frame”. The frame must be removed very carefully so as not to damage the crown.
Artificial Topiary
Not everyone can create natural topiary. An excellent alternative to them are topiary figures made of artificial grass. Their advantages are obvious:
- no need for constant care;
- independence from climatic conditions;
- mobility - easy to transfer to any place;
- remarkable appearance indistinguishable from natural compositions;
- affordable cost.
The process of caring for artificial figures involves the regular removal of dust and snow.
Elements of the figure are fixed on a wire frame. Imitated leaves and green fabric are used. The fantasy of the master in this case is not limited to anything. You can install such a creation on the street or indoors.
The art of topiary is unusually diverse and attractive. No wonder it gains more and more fans. Starting with green figures in pots, you can go to real garden masterpieces.