TRIMMING THE BOX

Now Derby Day has past, it is the traditional time to trim box hedges.  I have a number of box balls in my back garden and cones in the front.  I love topiary as they are living sculptures which remain green all year round and give a garden structure.  Mine are very simple shapes but I do admire those who manage to shape elaborate animals and other topiary shapes. My box shapes started out in pots at my previous house and now they are all in the ground and getting bigger year by year.  I always trim them this time of year - the fuzzy new growth tamed into neat symmetry and sometimes again in early autumn, depending on the growth.

Simple topiary shapes often appear in my artworks.  I particularly like framing a doorway with pots complete with standard trees or box balls. Sometimes the topiary itself is the focus of the artwork. See samples below.