Buxus Topiary Help - Some advice please

Hi all

Just wondering if any of you fine gardeners would be able to give me some much needed advice please?

I have just bought two rather sad looking buxus topiaries from the reduced section in my local garden centre, one a spiral & the other a cone shape for much less than the original price. The spiral one wasn't in to bad a condition just a few dead leaves which I have since trimmed but the cone had lost a lot of its inner leaves & was looking quite bald inside when I parted the outer branches.

I have always dreamt of having a buxus spiral either side of my front door but could never afford the hefty price so when I saw these I thought I could give revive them with some much needed tender loving care & shape the cone boxwood into a spiral to match the other.

After watching a demonstration on shaping a spiral topiary on YouTube I set about trying to transform the cone into a spiral but it didn't quite work out as I had hoped. As you can see from my photo's there are many upright stems I cannot cut into to create the matching shape as it will lose the foliage from above. I am not sure if this is because of the loss of the leaves on the inner branches & in time & weekly seaweed feeds they will grow back thus creating more of a matching shape to its Sister or is all hope lost.

I would so appreciate any advice you lovely, more experienced gardeners may be able to give me

(please excuse the untidy garden in the photos it's very much a work in progress )

Kindest regards,
Domini x

 

Welcome to the site firstly. I think youve done a great job there. I would leave it now and let it recover. Protect it from any nasty winter winds the next few months.Seaweeds a good feed as youve said,i would add an aspirin to the watering can too.

Topiary is a gradual process taking time hence the high prices charged , times money. Ive got a hedge that had some sort of blight but came back good as new so yours will push out some new leaves im sure. A few twigs might not but no big deal as the new growth will cover any gaps. Patience.....

 

Hi WeeTam

Nice to meet you. Many thanks for taking the time to reply to my message & giving me such a warm welcome, this is a great site. Also thank you for such a lovely compliment & great advice, I am thrilled to hear that as I thought I may have messed it up. I will certainly be following your advice & adding an aspirin to the watering can & protecting it from the elements.

I absolutely appreciate the high cost of a topiary because of the time involved, I don't always have a lot of spare cash (mainly because I can't resist all the wonderful plants out there ) but I do have a lot of patience & look forward to the day it springs back to life. Pleased to hear your hedge recovered from the dreaded blight.

Many thanks once again

Kindest regards,
Domini