Yew can be more than a meatball!
Turning a sheared yew into a topiary
These yews had been sheared repeatedly and had no character. Our
options:
- Remove them.
- Let them grow to
full size.
- Clip them back, let them grow out into a typical yew's feathery
outline, then restrict them each year with an eye to retaining that
character. (
An example of this...)
- Clip them into a fanciful shape - topiary -- then restrict them
each year while also keeping that shape.
We chose #4.
Below: Immediately after the first cut,
which reduced the height and width, and removed many bare branches.
We could have made this cut at any time. We chose to work in
April because it's a time when viewers are not so sensitive to
sudden gaps in the greenery (sometimes they overlook them
completely!), and new growth will occur quickly.
Below: In November of that first year
(left) and in June of year two (right).
Below: After a cut in late July of year
two, to restrict the plants' size but keep the fanciful
shape.
Wondering what's going on with the dwarf mugo pine in
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