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| Go greener |
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| With a growing number of gardeners eschewing chemicals in favour of natural alternatives, we can suggest some effective products from our organic gardening selection |
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| Relax and refresh |
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| Good food freshly prepared daily, aromatic coffee, chilled wine and a grassy play area for the children. What more could you need? |
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| Food heaven |
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| Our Farm Shop is heaven for food lovers! Delicious handmade food, top quality groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables and stylish cookware and gifts. |
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| The Discovery Walk |
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| As thousands of daffodils herald the spring, stroll or stride around our Walk while the youngsters enjoy the Nature Trail |
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Topiary, or not topiary, that is the question!
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| Thursday, 10th July 2008 |
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IN THE GARDEN WITH PETA MARSHALL
If you visit the garden centre you’ll see many different shaped items of ‘topiary’ – that is, potted shrubby plants trained and trimmed into three-dimensional sculptures. You’ll most often see them as birds, animals, pieces of furniture or simple geometric shapes.
Here at Priory Farm you’ll see a selection of ‘cubes’, ‘globes’, ‘spirals’ and ‘cones’, and there is even a steam train. OK, not everyone wants a 15ft steam train made out of box (Buxus sempervirens) in their garden, but I do have to say that it’s a great bit of fun, and a real talking point.
Well, our own Dave Spinks who looks after it, waters it and trims it, might be pleased when it eventually sells – but little does he know that if and when we do sell it, we’re going to get an even bigger one!
At the various garden trade shows that take place for garden centre people like me to go and see that latest fashions to hit the gardening world, there are usually masses of topiary styles on parade. In recent years I’ve seen bicycles (with riders), every geometric shape you can think of, full-sized patio tables and chairs (not for sitting on!), and even a grand piano (with piped music coming from somewhere within its branches).
The world ‘centre’ for topiary these days is Italy, particularly the Pistoia region where dozens of nurseries train, trim, mould and nurture tens of thousands of topiary shapes for selling into the global market. It’s quite something – and many of the pieces find their way into the UK.
Now, you can buy a ready-grown piece of topiary, get it home, and then be responsible for watering, feeding (occasionally) and, of course, the trimming. And this in itself can all be very satisfying.
Or you can buy some small basic plants, and train them into your desired shapes from scratch.
So, starting at the beginning, which plants can be used in the way? Well, it’s not just box you need to go for, although this is my personal favourite.
You can also use the Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), Western red cedar (Thuja plicata), holly (Ilex aquifolium) and privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium).
I think we can establish that, in general, men like to be destructive and that’s why they are the first to come forward when something needs to be pruned! Some years back my neighbour decided she wanted to make a peacock from her box tree, and so her husband jumped at the opportunity.
Unfortunately the box was already around 10ft. (3.1m) tall when they decided to do something with it – now you can imagine how difficult that must have been! I can’t say I recognised his handy work as a peacock, but it certainly passed as a lop-sided, oversized teapot!
The lesson here is that you can only really create successful topiary from small, young plants. These are more flexible, and can be molded into the appropriate shape perfectly. Although it is a much longer process, it is certainly worthwhile.
A beginner should go for something like a cone shape – a little more challenging than a globe or cube, but not as daunting as a peacock!
Start by potting the plant into a 10in. (or larger) pot, using John Innes No. 3 potting compost. Water it in. Then carefully remove any damaged growth. If there are any dead patches, diseased leaves or damaged bits, cut them back hard into the healthy wood.
Next, insert five or six bamboo canes around the edges of the pot, tying them together at the top. For this particular shape the canes need not be longer than 4ft. Try not to rip the plant’s roots when inserting the canes.
Now you should trim back any sideshoots that extend beyond the line of the bamboo, to keep the outline sharp. This will also encourage the plant to bush out. But make sure you don’t cut off the growing tips at the top of the plant, as these will be needed to extend the height of the plant.
Keep a close eye on your plant and whenever the odd shoot sticks out beyond the cane line, snip it off. The key to successful topiary is little but often!
After three or four years your specimen will stop being “a plant in a pot”, and instead it will be a “piece of topiary”.
If it inspires you, and you fancy trying your hand at something altogether more sophisticated, such as the ubiquitous peacock, then you will need to create a wire frame, bent into the peacock shape (or at least several ‘ovals’ representing the body, head and tail-feathers), and then tie in, train and trim the plant to these frames. It’s an involved process, and prone to failure…but great fun trying. And as most of the basic plant material you use for topiary is not expensive, the odd failure won’t break the bank.
Go on, give it a go and amaze your neighbours – something my one-time neighbour tried to do to me, and didn’t quite get right! Happy gardening!
This week in your garden
When bearded irises reach three or four years old they tend to need a bit of an overhaul. Lift divide and replant them now, or as soon as the flowers have finished.
Avoid soaring temperatures in the greenhouse. Fit automatic openers to windows and louvre vents, and regularly damp down the pathways, benches and gravel.
Avoid also getting water on plant leaves during the heat of the day, which could cause leaf scorch damage.
Nip out runner bean shoots when they reach the top of their supports, to encourage pod-producing side shoots.
Feed outdoor melons weekly with a high potash fertiliser when fruits are swelling; water them well too.
Peta Marshall is the plant centre manager at Priory Farm in Nutfield. Website: www.prioryfarm.co.uk
NEXT WEEK: Preparing for the summer holidays
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