Shrub Shaping

[Preya_M]

There are some extremely creative people out there when it comes to gardening. People can make their gardens looks beautiful by just picking the right flowers and plants to add and arranging them in a beautiful way, but what about shrubs? I've seen some amazing shrub shapes, from animals to just the plain wacky! I’ve always wanted to try shaping a shrub, but my sculpting skills are down the drain, I'm pretty bad at it. Have any of you ever shaped a shrub? If you could have a shaped shrub in your garden, what shape would you want it in? I would personally want it in the shape of my religious figure, that would be AMAZING!

 

[Gina145]

When I've been to the garden centre I've seen a few metal frames to grow shrubs through. Then you just clip them back to the edges of the frame and you get the desired shape without any artistry on your part. I don't have time for such things though as I'm too busy with my bonsai trees.

 

[Preya_M]

Oh yes, I forgot about those metal frames, they're a much easier way of getting shapes that you want. You can also shape the frames to your desire. Bonsai trees are fascinating to me! The shapes and textures that they grow in are beautiful, not to mention that they're the cutest plants I've ever laid my eyes on.

 

[claudine]

I've never shaped any shrubs. To be honest, I prefer them to look a little wild
I must say that I find the heart shape really adorable:

 

[gata montes]

I've never shaped any shrubs. To be honest, I prefer them to look a little wild
I must say that I find the heart shape really adorable:

I just love the shape of this tree and those reddish hues on the hills in the background.

Have seen trees and shrubs made into all kinds of shapes, but like you Claudine, I like them to look natural,

 

[gata montes]

As you said Preya_M - there are some very creative people out there, when it comes to topiary

Just in case any one is stuck for ideas in what to do with their shrubs, here are a few you may wish to consider

Something for the dog lovers

These squirrels are really cute, but must have taken a considerable amount of work

I'll leave the description and use of this idea to your own imagination

This could be useful if you don't on a car, but want to look like you do

This Owl is absolutely magnificent and I would love to have one of these.

 

[claudine]

Haha, I love the dog-shaped shrubs and the fake car! I mean, I wouldn't want them in my garden, but I would love my neighbours to have them in theirs, so I could look at it and laugh every day

 

[justusforus]

The charging pack of dogs is incredible. Are all of these the metal frames or is someone really creative with a clipper? Thanks for all of the pictures. The heart shaped bush is just lovely.

 

[Preya_M]

As you said Preya_M - there are some very creative people out there, when it comes to topiary

Just in case any one is stuck for ideas in what to do with their shrubs, here are a few you may wish to consider

Something for the dog lovers

View attachment 1139

These squirrels are really cute, but must have taken a considerable amount of work

View attachment 1137

I'll leave the description and use of this idea to your own imagination

View attachment 1138

This could be useful if you don't on a car, but want to look like you do

View attachment 1140

View attachment 1136

This Owl is absolutely magnificent and I would love to have one of these.

These are beautiful! My favourites would definitely be the squirrels and the owl. The squirrels look adorable and I'm assuming that the owl took a considerably large amount of time; the detail is exquisite. The car looks funny, if you put a cloth over it, you could fool a lot of people in thinking that you're protecting a valuable car. Have you seen the Tinkerbell ones?

 

[gata montes]

Haha, I love the dog-shaped shrubs and the fake car! I mean, I wouldn't want them in my garden, but I would love my neighbours to have them in theirs, so I could look at it and laugh every day

They're great aren't they, I too, would love to see them in my neighbors gardens, so that I could have a good laugh every day .

I think the Owl is magnificent and was initially thinking it might be nice to have him in my garden, but have since changed my mind, as he is seriously big for an Owl, which, since I don't live in an area where there is any street lighting, it is pretty dark round here at night, and seeing an Owl this big in the moonlight could be pretty terrifying to say the least.

 

[gata montes]

Preya_M - glad you liked the pictures, as you know, I love the squirrels and the owl as well and would love to see them in real life, particularly that magnificent owl, which was , I agree, very definitely done by someone with a great deal of expertise.

Yes I would love to see the expressions on the faces of the car thieves as they unveiled the car

No I hadn't seen the 'Tinkerbell Ones' until you posted the picture and think they are very cute, but again would look very out of place in my garden. They are surely not real shrubs though - they look suspiciously like the metal framed ones to me

 

[Gina145]

One of the problems with topiary, even at its most basic, is that it needs constant maintenance. I've never seen anything like these in real life, but I sometimes drive past a house which has two bushes shaped as cubes and they often look very scruffy because they don't get pruned often enough.

 

[Preya_M]

Preya_M - glad you liked the pictures, as you know, I love the squirrels and the owl as well and would love to see them in real life, particularly that magnificent owl, which was , I agree, very definitely done by someone with a great deal of expertise.

Yes

I would love to see the expressions on the faces of the car thieves as they unveiled the car

No I hadn't seen the 'Tinkerbell Ones' until you posted the picture and think they are very cute, but again would look very out of place in my garden. They are surely not real shrubs though - they look suspiciously like the metal framed ones to me

I know that there is a nature garden in Quebec somewhere, which has beautiful topiary works; my cousins went and they brought back tons of pictures, truly magnificent works of art.

This is indeed metal framed (I saw a documentary on how they made them). I still thought it was fabulous, even though it’s metal framed it was still hard to create; they made the frames by hand, it was beautiful.

 

[melizaarora]

Topiary is the horticultural practice of pruning and training live perennial plants by trimming the foliage and branches of trees and shrubs to develop them into defined shapes.


The plants that are best suited for topiary are small, dense foliage shrubs such as boxwood (Buxus spp.), holly (Ilex spp.), laurel (Prunus spp.) and privet (Ligustrumspp). The boxwood especially is a very popular choice.

Here is a webpage I found that provides detailed instructions on DIY topiary http://topiarytree.net/blog/2012/11/18/outdoor-topiary-polyblend-material-for-outdoor-weather/

 

[claudine]

These are beautiful! My favourites would definitely be the squirrels and the owl. The squirrels look adorable and I'm assuming that the owl took a considerably large amount of time; the detail is exquisite. The car looks funny, if you put a cloth over it, you could fool a lot of people in thinking that you're protecting a valuable car. Have you seen the Tinkerbell ones?

Haha, it really looks like Tinkerbell! But is it really a shrub? I find it hard to believe. How did the person who created it managed to attach the wings? They seem so heavy!

Check this out:

It's almost like a private zoo, isn't it?