THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Plants for Topiary
Want to know the best plants to use for topiary? Here is the common palette, and included are a few trees that love to be pollarded, or espaliered, or can take being cut to the ground or have their leaves stripped from the stem…
… not all of these plants will give you the classic topiary forms, but they may be worth experimenting on and discovering how they can be pruned and what impression they leave you with when they are!
Box
Yew
Holm Oak
Holly
Azalea
Ilex crenata
Bay
Thuja
Hebe
Portugese laurel
Pines (including Scots pine)
Robinia
Olive
Osmanthus
Fig
Lime
Privet
Rosemary
Eleagnus x ebbingei
Eucalyptus
Hazel
Willow
Plane
Myrtus apiculata
Alder
Cornus
Gingko
Pittosporum
Rhamnus
Beech
Hornbeam
Berberis
Lonicera
Phillyrea
Pyracantha
Photinia
Cupressus
Chestnut
Pyrus
Ash
Rhododendron
Podocarpus
Cinnamomum
Juniper
Aucuba
Acer
Hawthorn
Viburnum
Prunus – lots of fruit trees take to being espaliered!
Elder
Buddleia
Conifer
Laurel
Abies
Cedar
Chaemycyparis
Oak
Pieris
Camellia
Cryptomeiria
Choisya
Tree ferns
Bananas
Bamboos
Yuccas
Lyonothamnus
Magnolia
Oleander
Euonymous
Choisya
Palms
What to clip with?
We hope you can add to the topiary palette with your own experiments – happy clipping!
Modern Topiary, the Book, at Garden Media Guild
My book about topiary, Modern Topiary, has been mentioned on the Garden Media Guild newsletter…. As the screenshot says, the book can be read for free online here. At the bottom of the screenshot, it looks like another Garden Media Guild member has a book out called ‘A Year In A Cottage Garden’…. so if that is where your garden heart lies, check that out too! And at the top of the screenshot, it looks like I was listening to Pelleas et Melisande, by Debussy. What a classy chap I am, listening to classical music as I reply to emails. …
Start of the Whitby Topiary Library
I have been offered a space here in the centre of Whitby, south-facing aspect, with some raised beds in, so that I can make a Topiary Library. In my head, a topiary library is a place to showcase the common (and then not so common) shapes you can make out of topiary. With classical topiary plants, as well as some more unusual pieces. This Topiary Library can act as a reference for people to learn more about pruning and clipping. The space is small but the aspect is great and the beds are deep enough to put some plants in. …
Delivery After Dark – From the Makers of The Amelia Project
Last week I spent most nights stood in cold water streams on the moors of North Yorkshire, helping to film a new project called Delivery After Dark from the makers of the Amelia Project. I worked on the Amelia Project back at the end of 2024, lending my terrible vocal talents to a small part in the episode Didius Julianus. But this project is something new – and exciting! – and thankfully only needed me to be filmed, rather than to actually say anything. But not only did I have to stand in cold moving water at midnight, I also …