• Site Assessment • Site Preparation & Establishment • Design Pointers
• Clipping Theory • Clipping Tools • Clipping Technique • Simple Shapes
• Complex Shapes & Figures • Problem Solving • Growing Topiary

• Clipping Technique

Introduction
In this section we will cover the approach to, and the actual methods used in giving topiary pieces their regular trim...
Topiary, unlike any other art form, is never finished - there is no end
point as such or product. It is more of a process, a continuing journey
rather than a destination.
Of course we have our aims with any particular piece and will strive for perfection at our every intervention. But it must be remembered that we are attempting to control and manipulate natural processes and nature will take control despite us. Branches may sag, growth may thin and die, shoots might appear where not needed, or growth may be too strong or dominant elsewhere.
The plants grow, expand and develop and their character changes with time. Above all, they have a natural annual cycle of growth which means however sharp and clear cut you leave them, it is only a matter of time before the outlines become blurred and they need your attention once more.
The first and perhaps most important task when approaching a piece with a view to clipping it is to study it carefully from all angles. Develop a mental 3D image of it as it should be - a theoretical, perfect shape, all verticals being vertical, all right angles at 90 degrees and spheres and cubes etc etc spot on too. It is only through developing this imaginary perfect image that we can see the work to be done in order to move our imperfect reality in the right direction.
We may well not reach that perfection in one go, but nudging our shape in the right direction counterbalances nature moving it in the other and we thus edge closer to our goal. Fortunately too as our topiary grows we have the opportunity to further improve on it on an annual basis.
In a way, every piece is an individual case, but there are some
generalisations we can make...
We usually start at the top and work down. This allows the clippings to be removed or flicked off as we go and also it is a more sensible approach for the good of the shape. Plants naturally grow strongest and thickest at the top and it is thus possible to clip hard back in this area before moving down to more shaded, less dense growth. Following our line down from the
top, we then clip much less off the lower areas to maintain the integrity of our shape. If this process was reversed and we started instead at the bottom, then it would be all too easy to cut hard back in these thinner areas and find we could not maintain the line through thicker growth above.
Overhanging verticals would be the sad result and the problem would rapidly gets worse as the overhung, shady areas grew less and less. So start at the top and work down.



The next useful general point to convey is our approach to clipping itself.
We should have some idea of our imaginary perfect line to which we should aspire, but rather than clip all the way at once we work down to it over a number of passes. First we rough out to near our line by removing the thickest of the growth - say about 75%. On Yew in particular it is noticeable that there are usually two distinct layers or flushes of growth.
Long shoots of about 15 cms and, at their base, a 5 cm thick in fill. It is this layer of longer growth that the first swipe of the clippers removes and then we are left with a much clearer view of the shape beneath.
On established pieces in good shape, we are looking to clip back to the
level of the previous year¹s cut. To within about 5 mm. Cutting all growth off is not a good idea for the health of the plant. Some fresh foliage is needed to sustain its ongoing life and beneath that, fresh buds are required to supply new growth the next season. This is why we must see topiary pieces as living, growing, developing art forms.



So, going back to our clipping process again, the final few centimetres or so of trimming we will work our way down to in a number of passes of the blades. We will remove debris with a flick of the cane so we can better assess our line. Most importantly, we will step back frequently and look carefully, preferably from more than one viewpoint, to assess which parts require further clipping and which parts are to be left with more growth intact. It is this checking and self-assessment that is so important to getting the correct line.
We would also give our blades a quick squirt of water in between clips to keep them running freely. Also bear in mind the added value of continually flicking the debris away - this will lift some of the shoots that would otherwise miss being clipped, only to pop up later after we have turned our back!



On some specimens our line is far easier to see because of the variation in foliage from last year to this... Variegated or golden topiary in particular exhibits this characteristic. Last years leaves turn dark green, whilst the fresh new growth is a brighter yellow green. In the same way, cutting
earlier rather than later will ensure a physical difference in growth- this years will still be soft, fresh and possibly lighter in colour. The line can also be discerned from working down to where last years cut leaves and cut twig ends are discovered - usually a much denser surface on established specimens.

On rounder and more figurative shapes, there is little to guide us apart from our own skill and judgment in imagining the line to cut to and working to it. In more geometric, straight-sided shapes however, we may use certain guides to help us.
Whatever we are clipping, standing back and assessing our work is of course, continually important. It is especially effective when we can line up our flat planes against true horizontal or vertical building lines in the distance, or where we can look directly across plane surfaces to assess humps and hollows. Also where we can alter our angle or viewpoint to show the feature against an uncluttered background, such as the sky.
We will also often use our canes as straight edges to assist us to see
imperfections more readily.
Very occasionally we will use a plumb-line - a stone or weight tied to the end of a piece of string giving the simplest of verticals. These guides we use to define our imaginary perfect line before clipping, but we do not leave them in place as we clip. More ambitious systems of frames or guidelines are sometimes recommended, but in reality are usually completely impractical. The best technique is always seeing a finished sculpture in the mind¹s eye, then working towards it.



As perhaps hinted at earlier, the weather conditions may ease the job or make it harder. Wet weather for instance might prove uncomfortable for the Topiarist, but it will ensure the clipping tools stay clean and sharp. Bright sunshine, although perhaps a bonus to the operator, can prove difficult - particularly when low in the sky, as the glare and dazzle make work facing into it very difficult. Windy conditions can also prove tricky.
It is not just that working at height becomes more dangerous, but it is also very difficult to cut a true surface when the foliage is continually being moved beneath the shears by the wind.
There is just one final thing to look out for whose appearance varies from species to species, but in Yew is particularly prevalent. That is the arisal of strong, vigorous upright growths towards the sides of the pieces.
In effect, if not removed early they will become competitive leaders. The more strongly vertical growth arising from them will come to dominate whole areas, eventually weighing heavily and breaking out of the chosen shape.
One should keep an eye out for this sort of growth and remove it as soon as it appears!

To ensure the smoothest flat surfaces, gradations or curved areas always use the clippers to sweep across in many different directions, thus blending across any minor surface irregularities. Also on large areas try and make large sweeps rather than small nibbling cuts.

Clearing up
When all the clipping is complete and all we want is to stand back and
admire our masterpiece, there is still one last small job to complete -
clearing up.
The nature of this duty of course varies with the lie of the land. In a densely planted area it may well be that most of the clippings will drop through the canopy of the underplanting and, being out of sight, can be left out of mind and not worried about too much. In time they will break down and ultimately repay a contribution to the soil¹s structure and fertility.



Where clippings provide more visible and potentially unsightly evidence of your activities they should be cleared away. Here, if you are working on a scale that will allow it, thinking ahead and spreading sheeting under and around the piece makes a very simple task of gathering up this debris.
Otherwise, raking up with a spring tined rake will be the solution. This will certainly remove most of the large growth, but if every leaf must be cleared then I can recommend one of the garden vacs. We use one here at Levens to successfully remove all the small box leaves from our pathways, whilst it cleverly leaves the loose gravel behind!

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Access
Topiary pieces up to about 2 metres high are easy to deal with as far as access is concerned- we can just walk up to them and do our work. As height increases over this point, the stature and impressiveness obviously increases, but so too do the difficulties in reaching the high parts safely.
If the piece is only slightly higher than head height, we often just stand on a short sturdy box, or sometimes two stacking boxes one over the other.
We also use a plank supported by a couple of boxes to span flower beds
rather than trampling on them as we clip. Any more than two stacking boxes however, we find too wobbly for comfort.



Our next line of attack is from trestles supporting planks. Again, this system can be used to span over plantings we do not wish to crush. These sturdy supports are often used up to about a plank height of 2 metres. It is important that the legs are suitably supported by wood blocks to stop them sinking into soft ground and these trestles are erected level.



For work above about 4 metres we resort to the use of lightweight scaffold towers or in some cases mobile hydraulic work platforms. These, when operated according to their manufacturers guidelines, provide a very safe and stable operating area to virtually any height.
The scaffold system in particular has the advantage that it can be erected just about anywhere and to any practical height. Its only disadvantage is that it goes vertically up from ground level, so that some of the tops of pieces may be out of reach.


Hydraulic work platforms do not suffer from this problem, being able to
reach out to some extent. They do however need stable, firm, ground access which is not always available in the garden.
It should be noted that it is not often the height of a topiary piece that provides the difficulties relating to its access, but its width. High pieces can be reached safely given time and the right equipment for the job.
Wide pieces however are often far more difficult, or even impractical to reach safely.



There are different strategies to overcome excess width
problems... Some of our more ornamental hedges have been cut severely back to make them more manageable without significantly reducing their character.
Other pieces we now clip from mobile hydraulic work platforms which are used to go out and over their widest areas. We also extensively use the relatively recently developed long reach hedge trimmers (essentially strimmers with clipper heads attached). These give us that extra couple of feet of reach where needed.



Finally it must be emphasised, whilst on the subject of access, that
generally speaking ladders are not suitable for working off. They are
designed primarily for access not hands free operations!

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