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