Topiary Plants

The art of creating sculptures using shrubs and trees as 'raw materials' is known as topiary. The Latin word, topiarus is the origin of the term, topiary. Plants to be used for developing topiary should be evergreen and produce dense foliage. Topiary plants should have columnar growth and preferably small leaves. The plants commonly used for topiary are described in the following paragraphs.

Buxus
A genus of this plants, the buxus consists of about 70 species. This plant is commonly known as 'Boxwood' and 'Box' in North America and England respectively. Height of the buxus plant could range between 2 - 12 m. The buxus is native to following regions: southern and western Europe, Madagascar (and other parts of Africa), southwest Asia, Caribbean islands and Mexico. Leaves of the buxus are leathery in appearance, lanceolate to rounded in shape and grow opposite each other. Average length and width of leaves ranges between 1.5 - 5 cm and 0.3 - 2.5 cm respectively.

Thuja
A genus with five species, thuja is widely used for the purpose of topiary. Two of the 5 thuja species are native to North America, while the other 3 are found in eastern parts of Asia. The thujas are also known as 'arborvitae' and their height ranges between 3 - 18 m. Leaves of the thuja are flattened and they have erect and sharp apices. Lateral leaves of thuja are much smaller than the facial ones.

Taxus
The taxus genus encompasses different coniferous shrubs and trees. These are slowing growing plants and they reach up to 40 m in height. The lanceolate, dark green leaves of taxus are 2 - 3 mm and 1 - 4 cm in width and length respectively. Arrangement of leaves on the branches is spiral however, the bases of leaves are twisted to give them a lateral appearance.

Bay Laurel
This evergreen plants grows up to a height of 10 - 18 m and has Mediterranean origins. It is a large shrub with Laurus nobilis as the scientific name. The length and width of leaves is 6 - 12 cm and 2 - 4 cm respectively. The leaves have a wrinkled and serrated margin.

Privet
The plant is mostly used for growing hedges and in topiary preparation. The ligustrum genus of privet contains about 40 - 50 species which include deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen plants.

How to Care for Topiary Plants

Activities like watering, fertilizing and pruning play an important part in topiary plant care. It is very important to keep the leaves in a moist state so as to prevent them from wilting. Practice of misting the entire plant is recommended to maintain the green color of leaves. The pot in which the plant grows, need not be over-watered as it may cause root-rot. Filling gravel in the pot prevents plants from standing in water for a long time.

Fertilizers to be used for on these plants should be those with a slow-release property. It prevents the excessive growth of leaves and plants as a whole. A slow release fertilizer should be applied in the spring season. Pruning is carried out in order to make the plant bushy in appearance. Bypass pruners should be used to cut short the rapid growth of branches. To shape the plant properly, vines need to be trained back on to the frames.

The different topiary plants described in the article above are used to create beautiful plant 'sculptures'. Taking proper care of the plant is necessary to maintain the balanced growth and shape of plants.