Make Your Own Topiary: Living Sculpture from Herbs & Shrubs

Many plants suit shaping: rosemary, hollies, ivies, boxwood, or flowering lantana, fuchsia, hydrangeas.

Materials

• Plant of choice (see above)
• Peat and perlite (equal parts, proportioned to pot)
• Pruning shears
• Staking ties
• Water-soluble fertilizer

Steps

1. Root a cutting in half peat/half perlite.

2. Transplant to 3.5″ pot with sterilized soil when fully rooted. Prune side shoots to encourage vertical growth.

3. Stake snugly with ties. Grow in sun 2 months; water well. At 2 ft tall, trim main vertical shoot to stop upward growth and encourage branching. Strip bottom 2/3 of shoots, leaving top 1/3 for shaping.

4. Maintain: Loosen ties as trunk thickens. Rotate weekly for even light. Fertilize monthly in summer. Pinch growing tips for dense top. Repot or root-prune to prevent rootbinding.