Topiary is used largely by business houses, five-star hotels and at some famous events, national parks and gardens in India. It is the horticultural practice of shaping live trees, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees and shrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes which are often geometric and spectacular. The border is a simple form of topiary used to create boundaries, walls or screens.
It is one of the famous horticultural arts and the artist is called Topiarist which means one who skilled in topiary gardening.
Topiary shapes
Today there are variety of shapes available in topiary, it is possible to make shapes of different types. Simple shapes such as a globe, sphere, dome, table, chair, clock, cube, birds, animals, and many more that are not difficult to achieve. These forms can be given without help of any assembled moulded wire model. When figures of birds, animals or human beings are to be shaped, a lot of patience and dedication is needed; these are to be obtained by preparing a rough outline with wires and then guiding the shrub along the frame and clipping carefully periodically over the years to get the desired shape. The branches are tied carefully to the frames without causing any injury.
The topiarist needs to remember that whatever form is chosen, it should have a broader base. For example, a dove standing over a substantial base such as dome/cube is more impressive than standing on its own. Once the base is made, the bird is shaped along the outline of the wire frame. And this may take about 3-4 years of clipping and pruning to obtain the general shape. Pruning of the shrub is not done randomly. The objective should be that any shoot or branch which can be trained into the framework should not be pruned. The shoot tips and foliage that tend to grow out of frame is trimmed regularly.
The earliest documented case of topiary is found in letters by Pliny the Younger. He described the Cypress animals, figures, inscriptions, and obelisks in his Tuscan villa and credited Gaius Matius Calvinus for introducing the art to Julius Caesar, who in turn popularized it across the Roman Empire. Levens Hall garden in Cumbria, England, is an example of a 17th century topiary garden, created by French gardener M. Beaumont in the 1690s. It is now recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest topiary garden in the world.
In India, topiary park in Chandigarh combines nature’s beauty with the art of sculpture. It was founded in 1987. It is in Sector 35A near the sub-city centre. It is popularly known for its stunning collection of Topiaries – plants trimmed and shaped into different forms. The park is beautifully decorated with exotic decorative plants and trees. As you stroll through the park, you can find captivating topiaries depicting animals, human figures and other abstract designs.
The topiaries are in the shapes of elephants, bears, peacocks, dinosaurs and many others, making it a fun sight for the children. The park also has swings, slides and a wide green garden where children can play; elders can sit and relax, exercise and enjoy the beauty of nature.
Topiary gives the impression of the old world and goes well with old buildings and cottage gardens. The topiary feature gives your garden a classical or vintage look, and it can be fitted into a formal garden. In India, the hanging gardens (Kamala Nehru Park) of Mumbai is famous for its topiary work. Visit in the evening to witness eye-catching sunsets and see the topiary take on shadowy mystique as the park becomes illuminated by solar-powered streetlamps. Located in the Malabar Hill district, the Hanging Gardens is about a 15-minute drive from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station.
Topiary plants in India
Different shapes of birds, animals, etc. are done with Clerodendrum inerme, Duranta plumeria, and Bougainvillea. Other shrubs used are Malphigia, Murraya exotica, and species of Hibiscus. Trees like Thuja, Ficus Benjamina, Cypress, Putranjiva, Polyalthia are also used to shape domes, cones, spheres, umbrellas, etc. In hill stations, Buxus sempervirens and Taxus baccata are widely used for topiary work. Chrysanthemums especially the small flowering types, can be trained into various shapes such as a table, chair, bird, animal, etc.