We’ve all seen those great plants that have been cut,
shaped, trimmed and
“babied.” It’s not really hard to get that topiary
effect. But it does take time
and care. Start now by getting a healthy herb plant with a
strong stem.

Topiary is the art of trimming and training plants into
ornamental shapes. For example,
you can grow and train a rosemary plant into a formal standard
(the top is a perfect globe
held on a single stem).

To start, you need a young potted plant with an unpinched
leader (main stem), scissors,
stakes, ties and patience.

Think ‘Height’
First

But before you start, remember that the growing point or tip
of the plant is critical.
The plant is going to grow at the tip of each stem. If you
pinch it back, the plant will
produce side shoots and be bushier. You can “design”
what the plant will look
like by pinching or not pinching the tips.

In the first stage, you want the plant to grow straight up
to the desired height. A
slow-growing or small-leaf plant should be 8 to 14 inches tall,
and a fast-growing or
large-leaf plant should be 16 inches to 5 feet tall.

Place a stake beside the plant, and tie the plant along it
for support. Allow only the
tip shoot of the plant to develop by cutting off any side
shoots that start to grow.

Allow leaves to stay on the trunk of the main stem. Check
the ties often to make
certain they don’t girdle or injure the growing stem. Check,
too, for bugs that like to
hide around the ties.

Pinch With Care

Turn your plant regularly so each side gets ample light and
grows evenly. Feed your
topiary every four or five waterings during active growth with
a liquid fertilizer for
houseplants.

The next stage is forming the top of the plant to the
desired shape. Before you pinch
the growing shoot tip for the first time, think of the finished
look you want your plant
to have.

Consider leaf size and rate of growth. Where do you plan to
display your topiary and
what kind of container will it live in? You may want to allow
the plant to grow even
higher.

When you’ve determined these, pinch out the tip of the plant
to make it bushier. Allow
three pairs of branches to develop.

The Real Art of
Topiary

The trunk will elongate a bit as it matures and thickens.
Again, be sure to place your
plant in adequate light and turn your topiary so it grows
evenly.

Now comes the real art of topiary. You have to keep in mind
the shape you want the
plant to take and train the plant through careful tip pinching.
Pinch or cut at nodes so
new shoots will grow in the direction you want. If the bud is
facing outward, the growth
will be outward. An inward-facing bud will grow inward.

You also want to encourage width and branching at the base
of the “head.” Top
growth will naturally develop faster, so keep upward growing
shoots trimmed back.

Be Creative, and Have
Fun

As you become aware of growth habits and observe the results
of careful pruning, you’ll
be better able to train the topiary to the finished shape you
want.

Many herbs can be used for topiary, such as rosemary,
lavender and scented geranium,
along with bay and sweet myrtle.

The herbs you choose will depend on the topiary shapes you
want to create. So be
creative. And have fun.