| The usual concept of pruning is to trim | | | | small container to restrict its root system, and by |
| evergreens to maintain their natural lines, to | | | | controlling its top-growth, it will eventually become |
| remove dead wood, and to clip for the purpose | | | | dwarfed. |
| of increasing the density of the plants. However, | | | | By this method, trees such as Pines become |
| the heritage of a different type of training has | | | | dwarf pot plants that can live for 1 or 2 hundred |
| come to us through the centuries. There are | | | | years, or even longer, under the skilled guidance |
| three definite methods other than the ordinary | | | | of the bonsai practitioner. Great attention is paid |
| pruning procedure for attaining unusual, and in | | | | to the distribution of the branches, and to the |
| many instances, charming effects. These | | | | shape of the trunk. To simulate antiquity, the |
| methods of training are espalier, bonsai, and | | | | trunk and the branches are sometimes given a |
| topiary work. | | | | bend or a twist, which is held in place with a |
| Espalier | | | | support until the plant grows naturally into its |
| The art of training woody ornamentals on a | | | | intended form. |
| support such as a wall, trellis, or fence is known | | | | Topiary |
| as espalier. In European gardens this practice | | | | Topiary is the practice of training woody |
| stemmed from the necessity of utilizing every | | | | ornamentals into various and unusual forms. |
| available space for planting purposes. Resourceful | | | | According to this method trees and shrubs are |
| gardeners discovered that when fruit trees were | | | | clipped into formal designs by means of pruning. |
| grown against the friendly protection of a wall, | | | | Plants can be shaped as bird baths, sundials, |
| the ripening process was hastened. | | | | animals, statuary, globes, spirals, and pyramids; in |
| The accumulation of the heat of the sun on the | | | | fact any object is reproduced which the topiarist |
| wall, together with the shield it offered from chilly | | | | wishes to simulate. |
| winds and late frosts, were found to be a special | | | | The art of topiary is rich in historic background |
| asset in regions where the summers were too | | | | and is especially associated with the large, formal |
| cool to ripen fruit grown in an open location. | | | | estates of bygone days. The early Romans used |
| A lovely espalier can be developed by using | | | | it on an elaborate scale, but the height of its |
| evergreens: Yews, Hollies, Firethorn, Loquat, | | | | popularity was reached during the sixteenth |
| Cleyera, Euonymus, Photinia, and Holly Olive are | | | | century - "The Golden Age of Topiary." In the |
| among those that lend themselves admirably to | | | | early part of the eighteenth century its usage |
| this type of training. On expanses of high, broad | | | | declined, because of the trend of the times to |
| walls the Southern Magnolia is also a good subject | | | | break away from the formal gardens. |
| for espalier work, provided its large leaves and | | | | In present-day gardens, topiary in its simpler |
| bold habit of growth are in proper scale with its | | | | forms has a definite place. One of the most |
| surroundings. | | | | common of these is a well-sheared hedge. This |
| Bonsai | | | | hedge, always faultlessly symmetrical, can be |
| The Japanese, with their deep feeling for the | | | | rectangular, rounded, or triangular in shape, or it |
| aesthetic and their love of plants and miniature | | | | can be pruned into a series of steps or of arches. |
| gardens, have stimulated our interest in the | | | | Frequently only one arch will occur in the hedge, |
| ancient Oriental art of bonsai. Bonsai is the | | | | which will mark the entrance to the garden. |
| practice of dwarfing a plant to create a replica of | | | | Grow some evergreens and then prune them |
| an old, weathered tree in miniature. Various | | | | using one of these methods one of these |
| cultural means have been devised for carrying out | | | | interesting methods. |
| this type of training. By growing the plant in a | | | | |