The fresh approach to bring topiary into the 21st century

It’s sustainable, a home for wildlife and will make you smile - award-winning Devon-based designers Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg are dragging topiary into the 21st century with a fresh approach

Their work showcases how this green sculpture can transform spaces of all sizes, using it as living architecture in many of their projects.

‘Topiary simply means clipping vegetative material into a form to provide structure in the garden,’ explains Charlotte. ‘And it’s not just for large country estates - my own front garden is just five metres wide, but there is a cloud hedge in it made from holly osmanthus (Osmanthus heterophyllus). It works well in small spaces, providing you choose the right materials.’

When choosing topiary for their garden designs Charlotte and Hugo look beyond the quintessential topiary plant, box. This species has been ravaged by the twin threats of the fungal disease known as box blight and the destructive box caterpillar. Sadly, these threats make it too challenging to maintain as a topiary plant in most gardens. For inspiration, they often look to the trees beyond a garden to inform their choices, to ensure the garden gives a nod to its surrounding landscape, as well as choosing species that will cope with the local climate and soil. The deciduous European hornbeam and beech are useful in larger gardens for more organic shapes such as domes. Species with smaller leaves such as evergreen yew and holly osmanthus work well for smaller spaces and for containers, and are ideal for crisp, geometric forms.

Harris Bugg Studio's Dorset garden topiary design provided a lush green backdrop to a summer meadow. (Image: Marianne Majerus) Topiary is a vital part of Harris Bugg Studio’s design armoury, precisely because it is so versatile. It can act as a garden boundary, a divider that conceals or reveals, a frame for a view, or a counterfoil that provides a moment of calm in a tapestry of rich planting. A series of repeating shapes adds rhythm and drama, too, and is great for connecting different areas of a garden: for instance at a private home in Dorset, Hugo and Charlotte incorporated yew pyramids into a meadow to link that space to the more formal garden, and to echo the trees beyond, and planted yew pillows in the kitchen garden as a calming punctuation to the planting.

Topiary really comes into its own in winter, though. ‘Topiary delivers during all four seasons, especially in winter and spring when there’s less going on around it in the garden - then it really shines,’ says Hugo. ‘There’s nothing better than the drama of topiary on a frosty day when all the planting around it is biscuity and crisp.’

If you need other reasons to embrace topiary, bear in mind that it can offer a sustainable alternative, too. It’s a valuable wildlife habitat, offering mid-level cover that provides homes for birds, insects and mammals that enrich the garden.

Topiary can look very dramatic in the winter. (Image: Solitair / Kobe Van Looveren) When it comes to choosing shapes, topiary is the ultimate green canvas: think both columns and cones, arches and beehives, but also sinuous cloud pruning or the charming forms of the peacock topiary at Great Dixter garden in East Sussex. The possibilities are almost endless, allowing Hugo and Charlotte to use it in all sorts of designs.

‘Topiary does tick a lot of design boxes, but it’s also charismatic,’ says Hugo. ‘In an Oxfordshire garden we used these organic dome shapes of yew, with undulations gently pruned into them. Our client calls them the currant buns. Everybody smiles when they see them - they are just so joyous.’

Hugo and Charlotte agree that, as living sculpture, topiary is undoubtedly an investment: it needs to be kept watered, fed, and clipped occasionally. But this is one that can pay off for decades to come: unlike fences and other garden structures, it should not degrade over time or need replacing every few years. Annual clipping will keep topiary looking good, while shapes can evolve over time with careful management as the garden matures. At a garden in Dorset the duo planted a spectacular boundary topiary made from closely huddled yew and beech domes of different heights, some up to 5m tall. The resulting hedge offered privacy as well as a lush green backdrop to a summer meadow with paths mown through - the perfect setting for picnics.

Topiary adds drama to a garden, especially in winter and spring. (Image: Solitair) There’s no need to dismiss topiary if you have a small garden, either. It’s just a question of getting the scale right, insists Charlotte. ‘Quite often people make the mistake of planting little tiny box balls; I'd far rather have three substantial pieces than seven smaller plants whose scale is just too small for the surroundings.’

In fact, in a compact space, topiary can act as an optical illusion, seemingly hiding away parts of the garden so that a walk through it still feels like a journey.

‘People assume that in a small garden you've got to see everything all at once, but it's the opposite: you need to have that element of hiding and revealing things at various points,’ adds Hugo.

It’s possible to purchase topiary of all sizes - it can be bought as pre-clipped shapes from a range of specialist nurseries, but for those who prefer to DIY - or have a smaller budget - they can begin by buying in starter plants, says Charlotte.

‘I took 15 small Osmanthus plants for my front garden and just let them knit into themselves, and began to clip them. You don't have to be extravagant: you just have to be more patient.’

Topiary can look good in a container, as in this London garden designed by Harris Bugg Studios. (Image: Jason Ingram) And don’t be put off if your topiary options are limited to containers, either. In one garden Harris Bugg designed in St John’s Wood, London, they used the compact evergreen shrub Pittosporum as domes in pots to create topiary that could be moved if necessary.

‘Pillows of yew also work well in pots, and I recommend pairing any containerised topiary with good quality terracotta or burnished metal pots,’ says Hugo. ‘Just remember that automated irrigation is absolutely essential for topiary in pots to ensure the plants stay hydrated even if you take a holiday.’

If you’re looking to spark further inspiration for your own space, Charlotte and Hugo suggest exploring a topiary-filled destination - check out the list in the panel find a garden to explore.

harrisbugg.com