If you ever find yourself getting bored with your garden, consider adding or creating some topiary plants to bring a little life to the party. Topiary, the art of fashioning living plants into ornamental shapes and sculptures, is an art that has been practiced for centuries: the practice of controlling plants by selective pruning and shaping.

There are many different plants that can be used to create topiary, but for centuries one of the most popular plants has been English boxwood, a slow growing shrub with densely packed light-green leaves and rounded, compact growth habits. A true dwarf, English boxwood is easily shaped by trimming away growth to train the plant into any desired shape. This is usually accomplished with patience and using steady hands to prune away growth to create the shape, which is the method traditional topiary depends upon.

Hedging is an easy way for the beginner to introduce geometric topiary into the garden. Simply give your boxwood hedges a smooth, crisp finish. Then cut out windows and doors, or turn the top into a battlement. You can use rows of smaller growing plants to create mini-walls to frame flower and vegetable beds--or consider creating a traditional knot garden with embroidery-like patterns.

For spirals, use a line of string tied to the top of the plant, and then circle it around and down to outline the shape. Then start pruning with some topiary shears. You can even create evergreen pillars and arches to highlight the entrance to a special part of your garden. For more informal but equally spectacular topiary, try Japanese cloud pruning. Simply strip most of the leaves off each stem leaving a ball of foliage at the end. This looks beautiful and impressive, adding an abstract formality to a garden and making a great sculptural focal point.

Of course, containers of boxwood clipped into traditional or whimsical shapes are the quintessential topiary--and easily moved about if you (or your plant) could use a change of scenery.

We have a great selection of boxwoods in stock now at OLSGC, and check our selection of shears to find what you need. Then just let your creative juices flow--but please be careful where you point those shears!