Topiary Work
Although the absurd fashion of cutting and torturing trees into all sorts of fantastic shapes has, happily, almost passed away, yet, as the art of the Topiarist was for a considerable period regarded as the perfection of gardening, some mention of it is desirable here. When the fashion first became popular in Britain, it is probably impossible to ascertain; but it reached its highest point in the sixteenth century, and held its ground until driven out of the field, in the last century, by the natural or picturesque style. From an archaeological point of view, it is not to be regretted that examples of Topiary Work on a large scale still exist in several British gardens. (for which we are indebted to Messrs. Veitch and Sons) represents a view at Elvaston Castle, near Derby. "A large portion of this consists of ornamental hedges of the common Yew, either dividing parts of the grounds from each other, or inclosing spaces devoted to special subjects; and of single specimens, both of the common Yew and its golden variety, cut into conical pyramids of uniform size and height; and of such as these there are upwards of one thousand. There are comparatively few representations of birds and animals; the bolder work represents the walls and bastions of a Norman castle, archways, alcoves, arbours, &c. The great extent of the Topiary Work at Elvaston is calculated to excite surprise rather than admiration; at the same time, its extreme formality is greatly relieved by the noble Conifers of the Fir and Pine tribe which have been planted beside and around it with no sparing hand, and by the beautiful view of the river Derwent, in its winding course through the grounds" (Veitch, "Manual of the Coniferae"). Levens Hall, in Westmoreland, is a still more famous Topiarian garden than Elvaston. For an account of this, and an illustration, of the "Archaeological Journal." Two illustrations of some of the most remarkable groups in this same garden appeared in the "Gardeners' Chronicle" for 1874. Here may be seen figures of the British Lion; of Queen Elizabeth and her ladies: of the Judge's Wig, a number of Yews planted in a half-circle, so as to form an arbour, by bringing the branches over the top in a hood or wig-like fashion; and many others. The astonishing tenacity of life possessed by the Yew is thoroughly proved by the fact that, as the figures (at Levens) above mentioned were first formed early in the eighteenth century, the bulk of the young growths must have been cut off for upwards of one hundred and eighty years, in order to keep the requisite size and form of the objects represented.
The vast amount of not unskilled labour requisite to maintain in order any elaborate Topiarian designs will, no doubt-apart from any question of taste-prevent a recurrence of such practices to any appreciable extent. Evergreens were almost exclusively used, and of these, the Box, Yew, and Holly were those which lent themselves most readily to the Topiarist's skill. For columns and other more or less simple figures, the ordinary principle which now rules the clipping of a Yew hedge was sufficient. The branches were checked where too strong, and allowed to develop when not so vigorous, until the requisite size and shape were obtained, after which repeated clippings were necessary, beginning as soon as the young growths appeared in spring. For elaborate figures, a number of plants might be used, and the leading branches of these might be united by "approach-grafting," until a regularly compact network of interlacing branches were securely growing together. By this means, less damage would be likely to occur through heavy falls of snow, or from violent gales. In one of the continental gardens, a few years ago, there were several young plants of the common Ash, grown so as to form, amongst other things, a more or less perfect crown, simply, as the label stated, to show what the skill of the grafter could accomplish. Some half-dozen tall young plants were placed in a circle: one of these was grafted, at some 6ft. from the ground, by approach to the other five, so as to present the appearance of a ring horizontally supported by half-a-dozen stems; from this ring were allowed to develop a series of branches, which were curved over and united into one stem by grafting. After this the branches again divided, and were made to assume other unnatural forms.
Constant attention is required in pruning and disbudding all such strong-growing plants as the Ash, and distorted and unsightly branches and stems are sure to be the result in a comparatively short time.