As I was going through my photo library the other day, searching for a respite from the snow, and came across photos taken at three gardens in different locations. They all had one thing in common: a strong use of sheared, evergreen shrubs. Although this isn’t a look that I’ve chosen (yet) at Poison Ivy Acres, it’s a sculptural style that is visually strong and yet very restful and soothing. For your inspiration this mishmash Monday:
This garden was created by Nina Schneider on Martha’s Vineyard. This photo shows one way of mixing looser plants such as roses and perennials with the formal shapes of sheared evergreen shrubs.
In the Milliard Garden in Quebec, it’s the dramatic sheared arborvitaes that dominate. Flowering plants soften the upright shapes as they, along with lower shrubbery, form a river of color flowing past the “mountain peaks.”
The Milliard garden gives the visitor an almost Alice-in-Wonderland experience. And notice the new, small Arborvitaes…these gardeners are not only tending what they have, but planting for the future!
Maria Nation’s garden at Good Dogs Farm is a serene environment where sheared shrubs predominate. This garden is both interesting and restful…it must be magical after a light snowfall.
Just as not all paintings that contain purple paint are beautiful, not all shrubs are attractive when sheared. It isn’t the materials or technique used that makes something work visually.
With topiary and sheared shrubbery, the art of garden design and the love of the plants comes into play. But when the right plants are used, and there is thought put into their placement, magical things can happen.
Here are some shrubs that take shearing well: boxwood, Japanese holly, and yews. Arborvitaes can be sheared with care not to take off to much, since they don’t grow back from bare wood.
