© Grimsthorpe Castle
Back

Celebrating topiary at RHS Partner Gardens and RHS Garden Wisley

Wild, wonderful, and sometimes wacky - celebrate topiary with the RHS

From Roman times to today, creating shapes from evergreen shrubs has been a much-loved pastime for many. It requires skills and ancient techniques that are not to be quaffed at. Gardens such as Levens Hall and Gardens in Cumbria, are home to one of the world’s oldest collections of topiary dating from 1694, while RHS Wisley has introduced a Topiary trail on the Wisley app, and there are also many RHS Partner Gardens that have displays worthy of an Alice in Wonderland film. Which will you choose to visit this year?


Deene Park

The most striking feature of the gardens at Deene Park, in Northamptonshire, is the box hedge parterre designed by David Hicks and planted out in the early 1990s. The planting consists of clipped lavender,

perennials such as geraniums, Salvia, Iris, Nepeta, and spring bulbs including hyacinths and tulips. 

A quirky feature of the Parterre, and not in the original design, are four topiary teapots. Why teapots? Because tea was the late Edmund Brudenell’s favourite drink.

© Deene Park
A quirky teapot at Deene Park, to celebrate the favourite drink of the late Edmund Brudenell

Elton Hall

Lady Proby and family, at Elton Hall in Cambridgeshire, have a private and secluded Wilderness Garden, filled with many different species of shaped box. In the formal gardens, you can also admire neatly clipped hedges and the artistic shapes on the topiary lawn, where Bertie the dog is always a firm favourite. The gardens are open on certain dates between May and August.

© Elton Hall
Enjoy exclusive access to the families private Wilderness Garden at Elton Hall

Goldstone Hall Hotel & Gardens

Ross Underwood, Head Gardener at Goldstone Hall Hotel & Gardens in Shropshire says, “We use topiary to create a sense of playfulness in various areas. In front of the hotel, we have a topiary watering can, which is being grown and trained around a ‘former’ made by a local craftsman.” 

Other light-hearted forms of topiary include a ‘living sign’ made from box, which points the way to the vegetable garden. This is surrounded by creeping thyme, which makes a wonderful foil for the deep green of the box. There are also more formal examples such as the yew buttress which divides the herbaceous border and echoes the formal nature of this area and the sharp structural element of the wall behind. 


© Julia Roberts
A sense of playfulness is evident in topiary at Goldstone Hall
Hever Castle & Gardens

The topiary at Hever Castle & Gardens, in Kent, is incredible in both scale and undertaking. Billionaire William Waldorf Astor wanted to create a huge yew chess set, inspired by a set he’d seen at the British Museum. He also created a playful maze from 1,000 yew trees imported from the Netherlands. The maze helped cement Hever’s reputation as a garden to truly lose yourself in.

Playful topiary can be found on Topiary Walk as visitors promenade to the Castle forecourt. Here, topiary peacocks mingle with an octopus, a wild boar, doves, a butterfly, a snail and even a reindeer. Trimmed twice a year in April or May and in August, the topiary is a recognisable feature of the gardens built by Astor at the turn of the 20th century.


© Vikki Rimmer
Playful shapes at Hever Castle, in gardens created by billionaire William Waldorf Astor
Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil 

If you’re travelling in France, the gardens at Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, have traditional clipped topiary as well as some interesting yew forms. 

© Arielle de Latour D’Auvergne
Carré en l’île Topaires at Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil   

Topiary has a long history and was always considered a feature of formal gardens, but it’s undergone a revival, and designers often use clipped shrubs in wilder-looking gardens to create an interesting contrast.

Alessandra Sana, RHS Wisley Horticulturist and clipping enthusiast
Other Partner Gardens featuring topiary:


RHS Garden Wisley app

Download the RHS Garden Wisley app and use as your personal tour guide for the new trail, Topiary and the Art of Clipping. Look out for other walks throughout the year.

Download the app

About the author - Natalie Ashbee

Natalie grew up on an arable farm in North Cornwall. She was a Primary school teacher, then started a gardening business, moving into garden and planting design. She spent several years in Bristol, where she was a Horticulturist for garden tv programmes. She now lives and gardens in West Cornwall.

Save to My scrapbook

Topiary

Topiary

Best box alternatives: selection

Best box alternatives: selection

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.