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best suited, the decision to use evergreens or deciduous material willbe governed by the effect which is desired. Topiary work as a type of planting producing formal effects is theextreme of artificial methods. Trees and shrubs which are selectedfor this purpose are included almost without exception in the groupknown as "evergreens and broad-leaved evergreens," such as the yews,holly, and boxwoods. The hawthorn and the beech are the markedexceptions to this general rule, and are plants capable of severe pruningto produce artificial and fantastic shapes. These plants must lendthemselves readily to frequent and to severe prunings in order toproduce these forms. While topiary work as a matter of design is ex-tremely limited in its application, there will often arise situations inwhich this extreme and violent treatment to produce the artificialforms in plants is justified. Topiary work has at times been veryappropriately termed verdant sculpture. It is nothing more nor lessthan sculpture in plant forms so far as plants will lend themselves todetails of such experiments. All of these plants which are especiallyadapted to topiary work are extremely slow growing and long lived.While many fantastic forms can be developed from such plants as theprivet and hawthorn within a comparatively short period, the rare,!more perfect, and permanent forms are usually the result of using theboxwood or yew. Most of these trees which are adapted to topiarywork, especially the pyramidal form of topiary work, are upright grow-ing, single-stemmed specimens. Plants which are adapted to theseeffects must also be of a compact texture with foliage evenly developedto a point close to the ground. |
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