Topiary

Remember when we were able to go to Disneyland prior to the pandemic?  One of my favorite places because of the beautiful garden sculptures.   I had a Mickey Mouse wedding, but I digress.  My friend's daughter was getting married and she was redoing her yard to hold the wedding.  When we were cleaning up the area, we found a topiary frame of an elephant.  We decided it would be fun to use it as a statement piece.

So, I did some research on making a topiary and learned that in 1962 Walt Disney was instrumental in bringing the American potable style into being.  This style of topiary is based on a suitably shaped steel wire frame through which the plants eventually extend as they grow. The frame, which remains as a permanent trimming guide, may be either stuffed with sphagnum moss and then planted, or placed around shrubbery. The sculpture slowly transforms into a permanent topiary as the plants fill in the frame.

So, we set out to make the elephant.  It took us a few weeks, I learned that the moss must be just the right consistency to work.  Definitely, trial and error, sort of like play-dough. We wanted the elephant to spray water, so we hooked up a hose.

 Lots of hard work considering how few steps are needed:

1. Choose topiary forms – whether you are making a topiary tree or something more elaborate, if you decide to use vining plants to make a topiary, you will need to choose a topiary form.
2.  Fill the form with moss – While filling the topiary forms with peat moss is not essential, it will help your topiary take on a fuller look much faster.
3. Plant the plants/vine around the form – Whether a potted topiary or an outdoor topiary in the ground, plant the vine around the form so that it can grow up the form. If you are using a large form or if you simply want to cover the form faster, you can use several plants around the form. We used a sort of vining ground cover.
4.  Train and prune appropriately as the plants grow.