Chapter C: H. Curtis (3)

It has been very often said, and said with a great deal of truth, that a person can with care and management train the yew into almost any shape desired. Even figures or letters are easy to form out of yew. In handling the yew, you have a kind of tree to work upon that lends itself in the most convenient way to the work of clipping and training into all the quaint and curious shapes that are found in the Topiary gardens. The adaptation of the tree for the work, and the ease with which it can be twisted and bent into almost any conceivable shape, places it far before any other for the particular work I am describing. Therefore no fear need be entertained that there will be any lack of variety of shapes in the garden; provided, of course, that due care is exercised at the commencement of the work, and that each individual tree is clipped and trained to represent an entirely different design or figure, as the case may be. As a matter of fact, in any garden that contains, say, one hundred trees or even more, out of all that number no two trees need be exactly alike. Each can be made to represent an absolutely different shape. Of course there is no reason, except as a matter of taste, why each tree should be made to represent quite a distinct shape from its neighbour. It might be considered a better plan to plant the trees in pairs, side by side, or on the opposite sides of a walk, and then train and shape them into pairs resembling each other in every way. Training in pairs is an arrangement that might find favour with some, and to a certain extent might be adopted with advantage in the garden, especially at the ends of paths. If it is decided to clip some of the trees in pairs resembling each other, they should be those that are planted near the ends of the path, one on each side. If there are two trees planted one on each side of the path, the effect is better if they are clipped into identically the same shape than would be the case if they both represented something different. But I think, on the whole, if there is anything to choose between the two styles, the one tree one shape style should have the preference, if only for the sake of variety.

SEAT AT THE PRIORY, GLASTONBURY
]

In the matter of shapes, it is no use trying to lay down a hard and fast rule, as every person who owns, or intends to own, a Topiary garden, will almost to a certainty please himself as to the designs into which he will have his trees shaped. However, I will try to give my readers some little idea of the different shapes it is possible to make out of the yew tree. In the first instance, almost any letter of the alphabet can, with comparative ease, be represented; and nearly all of them can be done with a single tree, although in the case of some letters, two or even three trees may be required to form the letter as quickly as possible. In the shaping of the letter A, for instance, two trees will be necessary for the purpose. Suppose it is intended to make a capital letter A. In the first place select two well furnished trees five or six feet in height, and not more than nine inches in diameter at the base, and plant them as already advised, four, five, or even six feet apart, according to the size it is intended to make the letter. One at least of the two trees should have two leading shoots growing from it; one to be trained straight up to form the inside of the letter, and the other to be trained across to form the middle of the letter. But, if both trees are furnished with two leading shoots, one of each can be trained across to form the cross part of the letter. If two trees can be got, with two leading shoots, as I pointed out, they will equalise the balance of the letter better, and give a more even appearance to the tree. In the case of the letter B, one tree only will be required for the purpose, if the letter is intended to be, say, eight or nine feet high. To be exact, we will suppose it is intended to form the letter B, nine feet high. The tree that is chosen for the purpose should have only one single stem for half of the way up the tree. It should then branch into three leaders or main shoots, as from this point three branches or stems will be required to make up the different portions of the letter. The strongest or main stem of the tree should be made use of to form the straight side of the letter. Then utilise the two remaining stems in forming the two halves of the B. The one that is growing in the most suitable position for the purpose can be bent round to form the top half; while the other stem is made to do the same in the case of the bottom part. In very much the same way the letters C, D, E and F can be trained, or even any letter of the alphabet. There is not a single letter from A to Z that it is not possible to train into shape; some are perhaps more difficult than others to do, but they can all be done, and well done, if they are carefully handled. The principal thing to remember is the selecting of trees that are most suitable for the purpose. Always aim at finding trees with the requisite number of shoots that will be required to form the different parts of the letter it is intended to make. If it is the intention of the Topiarist to form one or more letters of the alphabet, trees for the purpose should if possible be selected some years before being wanted, and should be prepared for the work intended. Trees that are so prepared beforehand will immediately they are planted in the garden be in a fit condition to shape into letters at once. If the trees are treated in this way, it will in a marked degree do away with the necessity of keeping the letters for several years in the garden in the ugly first stages of formation. There must, of course, be always a time when any tree that is being trained looks unsightly to the person who is new to the art of Topiary work. In the training of letters especially, it will be found much safer, and certainly a great deal easier, if iron frameworks are used. This certainly simplifies the work to a great extent. By using a light framework, a more equally proportioned letter can be made than will be the case if the more rough and ready method of using wooden supports be practised. Of course it is quite possible to train almost any letter, and succeed in making a fairly good job of it, with the aid of a little assistance in the shape of a few wooden supports, etc. But wood is never very satisfactory, for this reason—that when it is used, it will have to be in most cases green, in order to make it pliable and easy to bend. Green wood has a tendency to decay very soon, and the first strong winds that come will very likely break the supports, and blow the whole thing to pieces, or at least damage it so as to make it require to be re-trained again. In the process of training yew or any other tree into letters, the appearance of each letter will be greatly improved if from one and a half to two feet of stem be left between the ground and the commencement of the letter. This stem should be afterwards planted round with small boxwood trees, and clipped so as to form a pedestal, which may be of any shape desired. There are two ways or shapes into which letters can be trained, either the round or the square. The square way of training them is the one I would strongly recommend to my readers, from an ornamental point of view, but it is at the same time the most difficult method. As I explained in my last chapter, anything with square edges is more difficult to clip exactly right than a round object.

In the Topiary garden, the variety of shapes that it is possible to train are so many and varied that I will only give a few of those that can either be copied from the old gardens, or formed from the Topiarist’s own ideas. In the first instance, there are the various shapes of the figures required in the game of chess. Birds of any description are easy to form into shape in either yew or boxwood. When they are well trained and properly shaped, nothing has a better appearance in the Topiary garden than the various shapes of birds. The shaping of animals is more difficult to manage; but I have seen some good specimens, notably a lion and crown, the Howard crest, that we have got in the garden here at Levens. Then there are the various other shapes that are to be found in the old Topiary gardens, such as barristers’ wigs, Indian wigwams, summer-houses, helmets, busbys, bottles of almost any description or size, umbrellas, hats or spirals of various forms. These may be either trained as single trees, or formed into arches. Among the newer shapes that I have seen, which have recently been introduced into the Topiary art, are yachts, boats, jugs, etc. The different sizes and shapes of jugs are so varied, that any person who fancies the training of them in his garden need not lack variety of form, and they are shapes that are, comparatively speaking, very easy to train. There are also a great many very pretty shapes that can be formed out of the yew or the boxwood tree without being intended to represent anything in particular, further than that they are trained and shaped simply as ornaments to help to add further to the embellishment of the garden.

It is not my intention to try to explain the various ways of training all the different shapes I have pointed out. That in itself would require a chapter; as the different ways of training a yew or any other tree are so numerous, to attain what is practically the same end, that the person responsible for the work will have to be guided greatly by circumstances and according to the particular tree he has got to work upon. In every Topiary garden there should be at least four or five different arches of various designs. There are very few things that are more effective in any garden than a few well trained arches, and in the Topiary garden, if they are not more effective than in the modern garden, they are at any rate more in keeping with the general surroundings of the place. If it has been decided to train several arches in the garden, each one should be quite a different shape from its neighbour. There is such a variety of different shapes to be seen in almost any garden where arches are trained, that there is no occasion for two arches in one garden to be similar in design.

LEVENS GARDENS

UMBRELLA, INDIAN WIGWAM AND EAST WALK
]

When the shapes have been carefully thought out, let no time be lost in making a start on the clipping and training of them, especially if the trees are far enough advanced in growth to begin work on. It is simply loss of time to allow the trees to keep growing, year after year, when they might be having some training done to advantage towards the clipping and shaping of them. It is a very great mistake to allow young trees to grow for several years after they are large enough to be fit for training. As soon as ever a tree is large enough to begin work on according to the shape the tree is intended to be, a start should be made, or else it will be found when the work is begun, that some branches that have taken three or four years to grow will have to be cut away altogether, after serving no other purpose than exhausting in an unnecessary manner the strength of the tree; whereas if the tree had been clipped sooner, these branches could have been utilised in forming its various parts, or else removed from the tree.

In the making of a Topiary garden, nothing should be done to the trees in a hurry; but on the other hand, no more time should be lost than can possibly be avoided in hastening on the work of shaping, and in getting the garden furnished in the quickest possible time. No young shoots or branches should be cut away that can possibly be used in the construction of the various shapes; but in the training of young trees special care should be given to them, and particular notice taken that they are not allowed to make too rapid growth. In a very few years trees will be injured to a great extent through being allowed to grow too quickly. More especially does this apply to hedges. No matter how much it is desired to get a hedge quickly grown in a certain place, whether for shelter or anything else, it is the greatest possible mistake to sacrifice strength and substance to a desire to promote rapid growth, a result that is certain to occur if a hedge is allowed to grow eight or ten feet before it is stopped. Nothing should be done to a hedge in the way of clipping the same autumn or winter it is planted, and perhaps not even the following autumn; but each year afterwards it should be stopped, and never allowed to make more than three or four inches of growth each year. By following the system of stopping the growth every year, the length of time required to grow a hedge eight or ten feet in height is greatly extended. But the result will amply repay the extra time that has been taken to grow it; you will get a hedge full of strength and substance, and well furnished with young growths from top to bottom. But if the other system is followed of allowing the hedge to get to its full height before any clipping is done, you will have a hedge that is lacking in strength and substance, easily blown out of shape by every wind, and also one that it is very difficult to clip in anything like a proper way, on account of its many strong branches growing towards the outside, that should have been removed to make room for a thicker growth. Each year when the work of clipping is being done, a sharp look-out should be kept for all small branches or shoots that are inclined to grow towards the outside of the tree or hedge, and these must be removed whenever they are seen. In equal force does this apply to both hedges and trees, and it is a part of the work in a Topiary garden which if not carefully attended to, will very soon cause a great deal of harm. Those shoots in the course of a few years will grow into strong branches, and become a regular nuisance in the way of keeping them constantly tied in; and eventually it is possible that they will have to be removed altogether, as it is not always easy to keep branches of that description tied back within the general level of the hedge. Nothing, moreover, gives a worse appearance to a hedge or tree than one of these bare branches projecting beyond the general level, perhaps entirely devoid of young growth. In the case of one of these branches that I have described having been allowed to grow for some years, and then found necessary to be removed by being cut out altogether, the disfigurement that will be caused to the hedge or tree will be very apparent for some years afterwards; whereas, if such branches had been removed each year as they made their appearance, no disfigurement would have resulted through their removal; rather would the growth be improved to a great extent, inasmuch as, where each shoot or branch is cut off a number of young growths will break away, which will help to give the hedge a firm and compact appearance, a thing that is greatly to be desired in all clipped hedges or trees. For the general work of clipping and training trees in the Topiary garden, I would strongly recommend that the old-fashioned shears be used. There are several different makes of clipping shears to be got now. Some of them have been given a trial here; but for general purposes they were not found to be very well suited to the work. There are exceptions, of course, where they might be used with advantage, as, for instance, in the case of a privet hedge, where the surface is smooth and even and the growth soft and easily cut. But for all general purposes, the old style of shears is the best. It is very often the case that in the work of clipping a well trained tree, it is necessary to cut the growths off one by one, and it is in a similar instance that the old-fashioned shears with their sharp points have the advantage over the newer make of machine.

ARM-CHAIR IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A TOPIARY GARDEN

In previous chapters I have dealt almost entirely with the general formation of a Topiary garden; the soils and manures that are most suitable for the cultivation and welfare of the yew; and I tried to give my readers some idea of the general treatment required in the management of both old and young trees. In this chapter it is my intention to explain, as clearly as possible, the yearly management of a Topiary garden.

The general routine of work in the Formal or Dutch garden is very much the same as in any other garden, with, of course, the exception of the clipping and training of the trees. That in itself adds a very great amount of extra labour to the general work. But fortunately it is work that requires to be done at the slackest time of the year for gardening, viz., the autumn.

If the garden is an old established one, the arranging and planting of the different beds will have been carried out many years previous, very possibly at the time the trees were planted, at the foundation of the garden, although there is no doubt they will have been subject to many alterations during the years that have elapsed since the time when the garden was first formed. But in this chapter it is with the planting and arranging of the various flowering plants in the beds of a garden that has been laid out on the principle recommended in an earlier chapter of this work—on the formation of the Topiary garden—that I intend chiefly to deal with.

THE COTTAGER’S PRIDE
]

The planting of the beds and their various contents is in the Topiary garden a very important part of the work, and one that requires both a great amount of skill and forethought, as to a great extent on the arranging of the various kinds of flowering plants in the different beds will depend the future beauty of the garden. Of course I do not mean to imply that the arrangement of the various beds is of as much importance as the planting of the trees, as they differ in this respect so far, that once the trees in a Topiary garden are planted, they should under no circumstances whatever be altered; but in the case of the beds, they may be subject to many alterations, as circumstances may occur. The yew by itself is not a very bright or attractive tree, but when you see it planted in the Topiary garden and clipped into all kinds of unique shapes and figures, and all the available space in the beds is utilised for the purpose of massing either herbaceous or bedding plants, the effect is extremely beautiful; it is then that one sees a garden with a charm and beauty about it that is very seldom if ever met with in the more modern garden.

It is quite evident that, in most of the old formal gardens, glass accommodation has never to any great extent been considered necessary. Yet there is nothing of more importance to the gardener in charge of a large Topiary garden than plenty of glass accommodation for storing the various bedding plants during winter and spring. In former years both the persons who owned the Topiary gardens, and the gardeners as well, seem to have depended to a great extent on the different varieties of annuals for the embellishment of their gardens. But annuals in a garden such as the one I am speaking of, never have the same effect among the yews as the more bright and showy bedding plants. I quite agree with a great many people in their contention that glass structures are altogether out of place in the Topiary garden. But provision should be made for them in some way or other, and as a rule some place can be found for the erection of a few houses without clashing with the other features of the garden.

If the garden has been laid out on a large scale, and contains a quantity of large beds, as regards the work of arranging and deciding what each bed is to be planted with, the person who is responsible will have to be guided by circumstances to a certain extent according to the accommodation that is already at hand, or is to be provided for the raising of bedding plants.

In every garden, and especially in the Topiary garden, the beds should be so arranged that they will yield as far as possible a continual show of bloom for as many months of the year as flowers will bloom in the garden. A continual supply of bloom for the longest possible time is the principal object to be aimed at. Of course in the arrangement of the beds it will be necessary to plant some of them with herbaceous plants; others may be planted with roses; as both roses and herbaceous plants look well in any garden. But in the using of perennial plants of any kind, I would strongly recommend that they should be planted more in the background and in large borders, instead of in the more important beds in the garden. These last should be reserved for bedding plants, as no matter whether roses, or any other kind of plants, be used, the same brilliant and desirable effect can never be obtained as is to be had from the more showy and more easily massed bedding plants. In the planting of herbaceous or any variety of plants, exceptional care should be taken to keep the plants far enough away from the trees, so as to avoid all injurious effects from the summer’s growth coming in contact with the yews. If the practice of planting close up to the trees is followed, on purpose to avoid bare patches in the borders, the result will be disastrous to the more important part of the garden, viz., the Topiary work. But as bare patches are always unsightly in the border, they should be avoided as far as possible by planting the very dwarf growing herbaceous plants in close proximity to the trees. It is a plan that can very well be followed in perennial planting, but it is more difficult to manage in the more important work of bedding out for the summer months, especially if large and tall growing plants are extensively used.

A SWAN CUT IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

COTTAGE TOPIARY AT NORTH WEALD, ESSEX
]

If it should happen, as I remarked before in this chapter, that the glass accommodation is limited, it is of particular importance that the utmost use be made of what there is at hand for the storing and propagating of bedding plants, more especially if the requirements of the place are such as to make an autumn display of bloom one of the most important features in the garden. If such is the case, it will be necessary when the bedding season arrives, to be careful that only such plants are used as will be at their best in the autumn, more especially in the most important beds. No attempt whatever should be made at carpet bedding; it is a style of bedding that has very little to recommend it at any time and certainly none in the Topiary garden; for one reason it is much too stiff for a garden where there are a great many clipped yews. Of course in a new garden that has been recently laid out and where both the trees and the box edging are in a small state, the system of carpet bedding may be practised by those who wish to entirely discard Nature from their gardens. But if the garden is an old one, full of old specimen yews, the larger and taller growing the bedding plants are that are used for bedding out purposes, the better. I will name a few of the bedding plants that are extensively used in the gardens here at Levens; but of course, as is well known, the gardens here are among the oldest examples of Topiary work in England. There are some varieties of bedding plants that are far more effective than others when planted among yews, and among the most suitable, there is nothing that has more effect than the brilliant scarlet Lobelia cardinalis and its varieties. Some objection may perhaps be taken to the plant by some people, but when planted in large masses among the sombre yews in a Topiary garden, I have not the slightest hesitation in saying it has no equal: when growing in large masses with a background of green yew and the sun shining on the dark foliage and brilliant scarlet flowers, the effect is really beautiful. Perhaps the only drawback to the various varieties of Lobelia cardinalis is the difficulty experienced by some in keeping it over winter; but if instead of following the old system of partly drying it off in winter, directly it is lifted out of the beds, one places it in a frame or greenhouse with a gentle heat and gives it a fair amount of water, thus encouraging it to start into growth at once, the difficulty will to a very great extent be done away with. Another favourite plant here, and one that is greatly used for bedding out purposes in the Topiary garden, is the beautiful old-fashioned plant Salvia patens. Like the scarlet lobelias, Salvia patens should be largely grown in every garden where there are a lot of yews. The brilliant blue of the flowers against the dark green of the yew trees has a very striking effect indeed, either when planted in masses by itself or mixed in the beds along with the scarlet lobelia or the tall yellow Calceolarias amplexicaulis. But the foliage of the Salvia patens has not the same showy appearance as that of the Lobelia cardinalis, but this is a point that can be overlooked, as the brilliant blue of the flowers fully compensates one for the lack of beauty in the plant, and it rarely happens among the general stock of bedding plants that one can find plants with foliage and flowers equally effective. But in my opinion, if a fault is to be found with the Salvia patens as a bedding plant, it is its inability to withstand wet weather. Through that cause it is very often denuded of its flowers, but it very soon revives with a few bright days. Among other plants that are extremely useful for bedding purposes in the Topiary garden are the taller growing varieties of fuschias that are hardy enough to stand planting out in the flower garden, and more especially if the yews are old and large; fuschias planted either in clumps or massed alone in large beds with a groundwork of violas, or some other suitable plants, will give a very striking effect among yews, and they have the additional advantage of giving a good show of bloom during a mild autumn long after the majority of bedding plants have finished flowering, which is a quality that ought to recommend them in any garden as well as the Topiary one. In most gardens, variety of plants is considered a necessity in the work of bedding out, and space will not permit me to point out the special qualities of each and every different variety of plant that may be used in the embellishment of a Topiary garden, but I will give the names of a few that I have found most suitable and effective for bedding out in a garden where the yew tree is extensively grown. The different types of antirrhinums, both dwarf and tall growing varieties, calceolarias, cannas, begonias, heliotropes, yellow and white marguerites, gladioli, and the various varieties of geraniums. Geraniums, and more especially the ivy leaved varieties, should be given a place in the garden if beds that are suitable for them blooming well can be found for them. Grown as pyramids or trained over a wire framework three or four feet high, the effect is very pretty.

In all the bedding arrangements of a Topiary garden, a natural appearance is a thing that should be studied and as much as possible sought. Always remember that in the practice of clipping and training yews into all kinds of shapes, Nature is to a very great extent discarded, therefore there is all the more reason why it should be as much as possible encouraged among the plants in the flower garden; all stiffness should be avoided and as little tying as possible done; though of course a certain amount of tying will be necessary to keep the wind and storm from breaking the plants, unless, indeed, the garden is a sheltered one.

There is another point that should be aimed at in the old formal garden, and that is, to always keep the garden well supplied with old-fashioned flowers. I certainly do not mean it to be understood that none of the new and beautiful varieties of the different species of garden plants that are being introduced every year should not be given a place in the garden, but what I want to be understood is this, that there should not be a wholesale clearing out of the old favourites to make room for the new ones.

As I pointed out before, the general routine of work in the Topiary garden is, with the exception of the clipping and training part of the work, practically the same as in any other garden. If there is a kitchen garden, a necessity that almost every garden, whether Topiary or otherwise, is almost certain to have attached to it, the work of looking after and attending to the various kinds of vegetables will have to be seen to, and a trim and tidy appearance kept in it, more especially if it is combined with the Topiary garden.

LEVENS GARDENS, SHOWING LETTER B AND LION
]

If the garden has been laid out on the principle recommended in the chapter dealing with the Formation of a Topiary Garden, and the paths in the flower garden and grounds are composed principally of grass, a fair amount of care and attention will have to be given to them to keep them in proper order. Grass paths are, and always have been, one of the principal features of the formal garden, and no amount of labour and care should be considered wasted in keeping them in good condition. Grass paths require far more labour and attention in keeping them in proper order than those that are composed of some hard substratum, especially if there is a considerable amount of traffic on them; if such is the case, it will be necessary to go over them every spring and re-turf places that have got worn out, afterwards well rolling them; then during the summer and autumn months they will require constant attention in the way of mowing and in keeping the edges well clipped so as to maintain a clean and tidy appearance.

In the Topiary garden it should always be remembered that everything should be kept in as trim and formal a condition as possible, with the exception of the different varieties of plants or shrubs that have been planted for the purpose of giving colour to the garden; amongst those, Nature should as far as is consistent be encouraged; but the walks, beds and borders, and everything else in the garden should be made to present as formal an appearance as possible. If the garden is a formal one, let as much as possible in it be made to have a formal appearance.

In writing on the Topiary garden, I have perhaps made it appear to some of those who may read it as hideously unnatural, and I am aware there are plenty who maintain that it is a style of gardening that has nothing to recommend or encourage about it. But those who think that the formal garden is without its charm make a very great mistake, as in every old world garden there is a charm that belongs to it only. In the woods and the parks let us by all means study and cultivate Nature as far as possible; but in the gardens we should have the trees to present as neat and formal an appearance as possible, a thing that can only be had by the aid of constant clipping or pruning.

For a great many years past, in this country at least, the Topiary garden has been to a very large extent a thing that belongs to other ages; especially does this apply to the formation of new gardens; but there is not wanting evidence at the present day that it is again coming into favour, and deservedly so. The Topiary garden has its drawbacks, principally on account of the great number of years it takes to bring it to perfection and the amount of extra labour that requires to be spent over the clipping at various periods of the year. There is one thing to remember about the Topiary garden, it is all work.

Perhaps at the present time Topiary gardening is a subject of far greater interest to rich men in America than it is over here, and as gardening might practically be said to be in its infancy in that great country, there is hardly any reason why the art of Topiary work may not have a great future in store for it in America.

INDEX

A.

Addison, 24, 25.

Age of clipped trees, 35.

Alphabet in Topiary work, 63, 64.

Amherst’s, Hon. Alicia, “History of Gardening in England,” 13, 15.

Ascott, Topiary garden at, 36.

B.

Bacon, Lord, 6, 22.

Batty Langley, 20.

Beaumont, 17, 37.

Box edgings, 43.

Box trees, 47, 56.

Bridgeman, 30, 31.

Brown, 31.