The book of topiary

by Charles H. Curtis; W. Gibson

It is not my intention to try to explain the various ways of training all the different shapes I have pointed out. That in itself would require a chapter; as the different ways of training a yew or any other tree are so numerous, to attain what is practically the same end, that the person responsible for the work will have to be guided greatly by circumstances and according to the particular tree he has got to work upon. In every Topiary garden there should be at least four or five different arches of various designs. There are very few things that are more effective in any garden than a few well trained arches, and in the Topiary garden, if they are not more effective than in the modern garden, they are at any rate more in keeping with the general surroundings of the place. If it has been decided to train several arches in the garden, each one should be quite a different shape from its neighbour. There is such a variety of different shapes to be seen in almost any garden where arches are trained, that there is no occasion for two arches in one garden to be similar in design.

LEVENS GARDENS
UMBRELLA, INDIAN WIGWAM AND EAST WALK

When the shapes have been carefully thought out, let no time be lost in making a start on the clipping and training of them, especially if the trees are far enough advanced in growth to begin work on. It is simply loss of time to allow the trees to keep growing, year after year, when they might be having some training done to advantage towards the clipping and shaping of them. It is a very great mistake to allow young trees to grow for several years after they are large enough to be fit for training. As soon as ever a tree is large enough to begin work on according to the shape the tree is intended to be, a start should be made, or else it will be found when the work is begun, that some branches that have taken three or four years to grow will have to be cut away altogether, after serving no other purpose than exhausting in an unnecessary manner the strength of the tree; whereas if the tree had been clipped sooner, these branches could have been utilised in forming its various parts, or else removed from the tree.

In the making of a Topiary garden, nothing should be done to the trees in a hurry; but on the other hand, no more time should be lost than can possibly be avoided in hastening on the work of shaping, and in getting the garden furnished in the quickest possible time. No young shoots or branches should be cut away that can possibly be used in the construction of the various shapes; but in the training of young trees special care should be given to them, and particular notice taken that they are not allowed to make too rapid growth. In a very few years trees will be injured to a great extent through being allowed to grow too quickly. More especially does this apply to hedges. No matter how much it is desired to get a hedge quickly grown in a certain place, whether for shelter or anything else, it is the greatest possible mistake to sacrifice strength and substance to a desire to promote rapid growth, a result that is certain to occur if a hedge is allowed to grow eight or ten feet before it is stopped. Nothing should be done to a hedge in the way of clipping the same autumn or winter it is planted, and perhaps not even the following autumn; but each year afterwards it should be stopped, and never allowed to make more than three or four inches of growth each year. By following the system of stopping the growth every year, the length of time required to grow a hedge eight or ten feet in height is greatly extended. But the result will amply repay the extra time that has been taken to grow it; you will get a hedge full of strength and substance, and well furnished with young growths from top to bottom. But if the other system is followed of allowing the hedge to get to its full height before any clipping is done, you will have a hedge that is lacking in strength and substance, easily blown out of shape by every wind, and also one that it is very difficult to clip in anything like a proper way, on account of its many strong branches growing towards the outside, that should have been removed to make room for a thicker growth. Each year when the work of clipping is being done, a sharp look-out should be kept for all small branches or shoots that are inclined to grow towards the outside of the tree or hedge, and these must be removed whenever they are seen. In equal force does this apply to both hedges and trees, and it is a part of the work in a Topiary garden which if not carefully attended to, will very soon cause a great deal of harm. Those shoots in the course of a few years will grow into strong branches, and become a regular nuisance in the way of keeping them constantly tied in; and eventually it is possible that they will have to be removed altogether, as it is not always easy to keep branches of that description tied back within the general level of the hedge. Nothing, moreover, gives a worse appearance to a hedge or tree than one of these bare branches projecting beyond the general level, perhaps entirely devoid of young growth. In the case of one of these branches that I have described having been allowed to grow for some years, and then found necessary to be removed by being cut out altogether, the disfigurement that will be caused to the hedge or tree will be very apparent for some years afterwards; whereas, if such branches had been removed each year as they made their appearance, no disfigurement would have resulted through their removal; rather would the growth be improved to a great extent, inasmuch as, where each shoot or branch is cut off a number of young growths will break away, which will help to give the hedge a firm and compact appearance, a thing that is greatly to be desired in all clipped hedges or trees. For the general work of clipping and training trees in the Topiary garden, I would strongly recommend that the old-fashioned shears be used. There are several different makes of clipping shears to be got now. Some of them have been given a trial here; but for general purposes they were not found to be very well suited to the work. There are exceptions, of course, where they might be used with advantage, as, for instance, in the case of a privet hedge, where the surface is smooth and even and the growth soft and easily cut. But for all general purposes, the old style of shears is the best. It is very often the case that in the work of clipping a well trained tree, it is necessary to cut the growths off one by one, and it is in a similar instance that the old-fashioned shears with their sharp points have the advantage over the newer make of machine.

ARM-CHAIR IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES

THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A TOPIARY GARDEN

In previous chapters I have dealt almost entirely with the general formation of a Topiary garden; the soils and manures that are most suitable for the cultivation and welfare of the yew; and I tried to give my readers some idea of the general treatment required in the management of both old and young trees. In this chapter it is my intention to explain, as clearly as possible, the yearly management of a Topiary garden.

The general routine of work in the Formal or Dutch garden is very much the same as in any other garden, with, of course, the exception of the clipping and training of the trees. That in itself adds a very great amount of extra labour to the general work. But fortunately it is work that requires to be done at the slackest time of the year for gardening, viz., the autumn.