It was great to be enlightened on Thursday evening.Garden Designer Jane Lydall's talk was inspiring and informative. I didn't realise how simple it was to create something with a coat hanger and an odd shaped bush such as Buxus or Lonicera Nitida Baggerson's gold. Topiary has endless possibilities and so simple. These shaped fit perfectly amongst cottage garden borders. I shall be planting low topiary hedges all around my garden for edging to stop the mover hitting my perennials and growing arches from my evergreen bushes.
Jane likes to find odd shaped box, bay, rosemary or Lonicera and transform it with a little snipping a good feed (such as Burgon and Ball Box feed that we have in the shop or a home made version using Comfrey leaves) and a little bit of time into something quiet lovely. When cutting small leaved specimens Jane uses the Burgon and Ball Shears but larger leaves such as bay are better cut with scissors, so leaves are not spliced untidily. She showed us some sweet little topiary hearts in lttle terracotta pots ideal to dress the tables at a country wedding and give away as wedding favours. She created a spiral box using a rope around the plant as a guide and cutting above the rope. Most impressively she pulled out a coat hanger and demonstrated how simple it is to create a heart like the one in the picture above.
Comfrey plants found in our herb section have very deep roots and therefore accumulate a lot of nutrients in the leaves making the idea for plant food.It is usually piled into a large container with a tap that will allow the rich black liquid to drip out and be diluted as plant food. It can also be mulched around hungry plants or dug in. It can be a bit of a thug or weed so don't plant it anywhere you don't want it. Ideal for shady moist places.
