Category Archives: Topiary
Another Elephant Topiary
Gavin Hogg, who lives near Powys, was kind enough to send me a couple of photos of the topiary elephants he created – there is a picture in the book, and here is the one that I didn’t use. I … Continue reading
Filed under Notable Hedges, Topiary
Calling all garden designers and topiarists…
Does anyone want to create a jubilee topiary? Ideally involving a hedge but not necessarily… A journalist has contacted me about doing an article around the publication date of the book – his idea is for us to go off … Continue reading
Filed under Topiary
Silly Topiary of the Day – an Elephant in Stroud Green
I always like hedges in the shape of elephants, I’ve got a couple in the book and here is another one from the quoteunquotenz blog.
Filed under Topiary
Hedge(s) of the Day
I always enjoy seeing all the different ways that people trim the hedges of their front gardens. I can’t help seeing them as quite psychologically revealing – some people like to keep their hedges rigidly trimmed in rather repressed box … Continue reading
Filed under Everyday Hedges, Topiary
Arts and crafts topiary hedges at Otterington Hall.
Chris Crowder, the head gardener at Levens Hall, was kind enough to end me these pictures of the beautiful topiary hedges at Otterington Hall in North Yorkshire. Designed in the arts and crafts style, they date back to to approximately … Continue reading
Filed under Notable Hedges, Topiary
Stilt Hedges at Hatfield House
This is another picture that was cut from the book for space reasons, a nice pair of stilt hedges at Hatfield. Stilt hedges (lines of adjacent trees cut so that it looks like a hedge on trunks) have been a … Continue reading
Filed under Garden History, Notable Hedges, Topiary
Clipsham topiary
This remarkable avenue of 150 idiosyncratic yew topiaries can be seen on the estate of Clipsham Hall in Rutland. It was created from 1870 by Amos Alexander, the forester on the estate who lived in the gate lodge and today … Continue reading
Filed under Historical Hedges, Topiary
Vivian Stanshall and Topiary
Vivan Stanshall is a much-missed genius of weirdness. In the book, I was going to use part of this quote from Rhinocratic Oaths by the Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band, for his lovely surreal take on the way that neighbours can … Continue reading
Filed under Gardening Thoughts, Hedge Politics, Topiary
Topiary and Doctor Who
I like topiary. I also like Doctor Who. It’s rare for these two interests to overlap in any way, so I was very taken by the garden design in this week’s episode “The Girl Who Waited”, which Amy greeted with … Continue reading
Filed under Notable Hedges, Topiary
Topiary Car, Lindisfarne
My mum sent me these pictures, as she knows I like this kind of thing… The topiary car is at the Oasis cafe on Holy Island, so can be visited only at low tide when you can either drive out … Continue reading
Filed under Everyday Hedges, Topiary
