Creating
a Topiary
Creating
a TopiaryTopiary is the art of fashioning living plants into ornamental shapes. This art has been practices for centuries. There are several types of topiary, including free-form, shrub, and sphagnum topiary. Topiary is not necessarily dwarfing the plant as for bonsai, but training or controlling the plant by pruning and shaping.
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Walt Disney World horticultural staff create all three types of
topiary for their displays on the grounds and in the gardens of the Walt Disney
World Resort. At the recent International Master Gardener Conference, a Disney
staffer conducted hands-on workshops on creating a sphagnum topiary. Wayne
McGonigal guided several classes through all the
steps to make a small ball standard about 6 inches in diameter. Join in the
class:
The first step in creating one of these topiaries is to organize the numerous materials needed: wire frame, sphagnum moss, latex gloves, fishing line, scissors, appropriate plants, dibble, hair pins, etc.
First, select a wire topiary frame.
These can be purchased at some garden centers, craft shops or through catalogs.
(See the references below for links to some suppliers.) The frames available may
be very simple or quite complex, and vary considerably in size. You can choose from
small animals, miniature trees, globes, and other common objects, from table-top
size to full size. We had small
globes for this class. [You can skip the next few steps if you purchase a
pre-stuffed frame.]
The frame will be stuffed with long
fibered sphagnum moss. Interestingly, almost all of the
sphagnum moss marketed in the U.S. comes from two counties in Wisconsin (the Mosser
Lee Company in central WI). The moss must be moistened first, by soaking it
in a bucket until it is completely saturated. Add a drop of liquid soap to the
water to act as a surfactant and help to wet the dry moss (this was done for
us). You should always wear gloves when handling dry or wet moss (to reduce
the relatively low risk of transmission of fungal diseases or allergies); thin
latex gloves (such as surgical gloves) are best because they resist moisture but
allow good feel.
Begin stuffing the frame. Grab a
handful of the wet moss and squeeze out the excess water. Cram handfuls of the
wet moss into the frame until it seems full, and then add some more. If you're
working with a more complicated figure, fill the extremities such as the tail or
legs first. Continue to stuff the frame until the wires are no longer visible
and you can't feel the frame when the moss is compressed. This step requires a
fair amount of effort and takes much longer than you might expect.
Once the frame is adequately stuffed
(or portions of it, for complex shapes) tie fishing line to the frame and then
tightly wrap the line many times around the moss and frame, following the
contours of the frame. Tie off the line onto the frame when the moss is well
compressed to the shape of the frame, but don't use so much line that you can
see it. Trim any excess moss hanging from the frame with a scissors, if desired.
The shape doesn't have to be too perfect, however, since the plants will
eventually obscure the moss surface. Some batches of moss have more sticks that
need removal than others.
Now
the frame is ready to have plants put into the moss. To do this, first make
planting holes in the moss with a
dibble. This will require strong pressure to compress the moss if the frame was
stuffed properly. Support the frame with one hand and push hard, rotating the
dibble as you push to help create a hole. Push the dibble in as far as you can.
The moss will start to re-expand back into the hole you've just
created, so you'll have to be ready with your plant plugs. Place the plant plugs into
the holes and cover the soil with additional wet moss, if desired.
Creeping fig (Ficus repens) is the most commonly used plant for creating sphagnum topiaries, but other small, clumping plants such as Sempervivens (hens and chicks), mondo grass, or begonias can be used for specific effects (such as the grass used for Pumba's mane) or colors (as with the begonias for the star in the American Pavilion at EPCOT).
Place the vines of the creeping fig
plants on the moss surface and pin into place using hair pins or fern pins.
Direct the runners to cover the structure, but leave some space for the plants
to grow. Voila! The topiary is finished! You can also add ribbons, or other
decorative items, if you want.
Place the topiary where it will receive bright sunlight – outdoors in the summer is fine if you give it a chance to acclimate first so the leaves don't sunburn – or in a south or east exposure windowsill. The topiary must be kept moist. Check it every day or two, depending on the size and weather. Whenever the surface feels dry, sprinkle the entire topiary, spray it with a kitchen sprayer in your sink, or dunk it in a pail of water to make sure that the entire figure remains moist. Never allow the topiary to dry out, but don't let it sit in water either.
Sphagnum moss provides no nutrients, so fertilize the plants every other week during the growing season and once a month in the winter. Use a general purpose (20-20-20) liquid fertilizer diluted to half the recommended rate. Apply the fertilizer AFTER watering the plant first.
Maintain the topiary's shape by trimming the plants or pinning runners to the moss until any bare spots are filled in.
– Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Books:
Some topiary suppliers:
Books and suppliers' names are listed only for reference. Such references are not intended as an endorsement by the University of Wisconsin - Extension over similar publications or companies.
Free-form
topiary is the oldest form of topiary. Free-standing shrubs and trees are
pruned and sheared into specific shapes. This works best with geometric forms
such as balls, squares or rectangles, and is not well suited to creating
complex shapes. Standards are just a single stem, selected early, and pruned
up. Herb topiaries, especially rosemary, thyme and lavender, are commonly
plants pruned into a standard. Many landscape plants can be sculpted into
recognizable shapes. Yew is one of the most common in northern gardens for
shaping into balls, cones, or squares.
Shrub topiary requires
from three to ten years to produce. A sculpted metal frame is used as a guide
to assist in training and shaping. The frames, which are placed over the
plant, must be large enough at their smallest points to allow for growth –
usually no smaller than four inches in diameter. The frame is set into the
ground (or into a container for moveable topiaries) and a single plant is
placed at each contact point (e.g. a four legged animal would have four
plants). The plants are then trained up and into the frame, which takes
several years. This requires a plant that
will shear well, is naturally full, and is fairly fast-growing (but not too
fast, or it will require too much shearing). Start with young plants that haven't
gotten woody work the best – older plants may have woody trunks
that don't hide well and may "sunburn" if severely shaped, and they
won't fill in as quickly.