Transform Your Garden with Topiary

 by Marissa Creamer  Rowan Public Library

Welcome to Grimloch Lane, where something magical is about to happen. Grimloch Lane is a drab, gray place until a stranger arrives and transforms the trees into an amazing menagerie of animals.  “The Night Gardener,” by brothers Terry and Eric Fan, is a children’s picture book that everyone can enjoy. As folks on Grimloch Lane trudge about with downcast eyes, a man appears carrying a ladder and some tools. He passes the orphanage, where William is drawing an owl in the dirt with a stick. As night falls, the mysterious stranger sets up his ladder beneath a glowing moon and goes to work on a tree outside the orphanage. The next morning, William is astonished to see that a “wise owl had appeared overnight, as if by magic.” Neighbors gather to marvel at this sight—something unusual is definitely happening on Grimloch Lane. William is filled with excitement as he wonders what will happen next, and this excitement spreads through the town as each morning, a new creature appears in the trees. Soon, the town is filled with life, as children play outside and neighbors visit and spruce up their homes. The text is sparse, but the illustrations are filled with rich detail. Readers will share in the anticipation as each new topiary creation is revealed and the town is transformed.

Topiary, the art of training and trimming plants, trees, or shrubs into ornamental shapes, has a long history. The Romans perfected the art in the first century, and it flourished again in 17^th century England. Topiary spread to Colonial America, and there is an ongoing revival in the enduring art of topiary today.  You can learn more about this form of living sculpture with “Topiary and the Art of Training Plants,” by David Joyce. This is a complete guide with step-by step illustrations that will provide a wealth of ideas for topiary in your own garden, from simple geometric shapes to fanciful animals.

 In “The Art of Creative Pruning: Inventive Ideas for Training and Shaping Trees and Shrubs” author Jake Hobson draws on both eastern and western topiary styles and teaches a new approach to ornamental pruning. The beautifully illustrated book features hedges inscribed with words, a tree snipped to resemble the toppling tiers of a wedding cake, and boxwoods trimmed into Russian nesting dolls.

Watch a topiary artist at work in the documentary “A Man Named Pearl,” the story of Pearl Fryar of Bishopville, South Carolina. The self-taught Fryar has created a 3-acre topiary garden out of a former cornfield using mainly cast-off plants from garden centers. His initial goal was to win Yard of the Month from the local garden club; today, people come from around the world to tour his garden, and he is known internationally in the garden world as well as the art world.

All of these topiary titles are available at Rowan Public Library, where you will find a wonderful collection of materials covering all manner of gardening topics.