Take-a-long Topiary

The shapes represent three to ten years of careful pruning and training around special frames.

Lightweight frames are used as guidelines for shaping shrubs. Heavier frames are wrapped with chicken wire and stuffed with sphagnum then planted with fast-growing ivy or creeping fig.

Some of the designs are especially creative and feature two shrubs that have been trained into a single form: an Ilex vomitoria Mary Poppins with a Pyracantha coccinea umbrella that blooms white in the spring and has red berries in the fall; a trained arborvitae seal tossing a pink azalea ball; a dexterous Ilex vomitoria elephant balancing on a striped beach ball of alternanthera.

Interest in topiary has increased over the past two or three years says Aaron R. Rittenhouse, marketing manager for M.K. Rittenhouse & Sons Ltd. “It’s especially taken off over the last year. It has become very trendy in the homeowner's garden, not just in commercial or professionally maintained settings,” he said.

Rittenhouse is now stocking an impressive selection of topiary frames for home gardeners including many different dog breed shapes. “Many people pick a topiary based on it's relationship to their interest or hobby,” said Rittenhouse.

Other people purchase a topiary solely based on cosmetically improving their garden. Then it is usually the shape of the topiary that is most important, sphere or pyramid for example.

Ritenhouse adds that some people buy topiary just because it “looks cool”. “It may be something they have never thought of doing before, but once they see it, they are inspired and decide to give it a try. That's part of what makes it so fun, the spontaneity of it all,” he said.

Some of the plants that work well in topiaries include Hens & Chicks, Stonecrop, EnglishIvy, Creeping Jenny and Burgundy Glow Ajuga. “Creativity is the fun part of planting a topiary, think of using Hens & Chicks down the back of dinosaur or a grassy plant for the mane of a lion. The creative possibilities are endless,” said Rittenhouse.

There are no set cultural requirements for topiary however, careful attention to watering and regular feeding with a water soluble fertilizer is recommended. Topiary frames are sold either stuffed with sphagnum moss or just the wire form by itself. If you do plan on having a stuffed topiary, Rittenhouse recommends buying it stuffed already. “It just saves time and a great deal of hassle,” he said.

The Rittenhouse website is: www.rittenhouse.ca