Winter topiary: an original DIY souvenir. We make beautiful topiary with our own hands Small trees with our own hands

The art of topiary is rooted in Ancient Egypt and Persia: masters who were able to give geometric shapes to bushes and trees were appreciated there. Nowadays, it is customary to call topiary small and very original trees that are made from natural and artificial materials. What they will be made of depends only on the imagination of the creator. It is believed that topiary brings good luck, good mood and money to its owner, therefore coins are often put in the pot. Making a tree of happiness with your own hands is also within the power of novice craftsmen. Relax.by has prepared several master classes that will be useful for both beginners and experienced craftsmen.

So, it will not be superfluous to know that the topiary consists of 3 elements: a trunk, a crown and a pot or stand. Moreover, for each of these elements, there are different shapes and materials.

Topiary trunk

A thick wire is suitable as a trunk, which is entwined with twine or floral tape or plastered over with plastic. You can also use a regular wooden branch. The original solution is sushi sticks: they make a straight, low trunk.

Crown topiary

Many materials can be used for the crown of the tree of happiness, here the author can show imagination. Suitable paper (napkins, corrugated paper or quilling material), flowers made of polymer clay, ribbons (satin and nylon), felt or cotton, buttons and beads, coffee, shells.

Topiary stand

It all depends on the idea: a flower pot, an iron bucket, or a flat stone can become a stand. The bottom of the topiary can be decorated with fabric or lace.

Topiary for beginners: tree of happiness from decorative ribbons

We will need:

• expanded polystyrene ball;
• wooden stick (pencil is also suitable);
• tapes;
• glue;
• decorative pot;
• invisible.

Cut the tape into small strips and form rings out of them, winding the segments around your finger. Then pin the rings one by one to the base. Care must be taken not to leave empty space. On top, you can lay decorative frost or sprinkle with small residues from the ribbons. The crown is ready.

Now put the ball on a pencil and fix the finished topiary in a pot, having previously "weighted" it with gravel.

DIY coffee bean topiary

We will need:

• a glass of sand (cement or gypsum is also suitable);
• wooden stick (20 centimeters long);
• super glue;
• sippy glass;
• plastic ball (8-9 centimeters in diameter);
• roasted coffee beans (about 100 grams);
• wash brush for whitewashing;
• brown threads in a spool;
• scissors;
• transparent glue (universal);
• several cash gum;
• twine (50 centimeters).

First, make a hole in the plastic ball (this is easy with scissors).

Now let's get to the trunk. To do this, disassemble the whitewash brush into strands. Using a money elastic band, fix one end of the thread of the bast on a stick, grease the entire stick with all-purpose glue and glue the bough to the top with the thread, also fix the end of the stick with an elastic band. Insert the barrel into a plastic ball, which will play the role of a crown.

Let's start with the crown. First, coat the ball with all-purpose glue and wrap it with brown threads. This is necessary so that the coffee beans will stick more easily in the future. Then start covering the ball with coffee beans. We use superglue: apply it to each grain and glue it individually. Tip: it is best to glue both top and bottom at the same time. For convenience, you can use not superglue, but liquid nails or a glue gun.

Advice:
for showiness, apply another layer of coffee beans on top of the already glued ones.

Time to start potty. Use a bast thread for decoration. Moreover, its length should be slightly larger than the diameter of the glass. Place a row of bast threads on the table, grease the bottom of the glass with all-purpose glue and place on the prepared threads. Cut off the protruding ends.

Using the same technology, glue the side surface of the glass. The length of the filaments should be 2-3 cm higher than the height of the glass. Tie the bottom of the glass with twine. Pour sand or gypsum into a glass, unscrew the funnel in it, gently pushing aside the "fringe".

Tie the upper part of the glass with twine.

Sisal topiary

We will need:

• plastic ball (7 centimeters in diameter);
• white paint;
• thin branches for the trunk (2 pieces);
• sisal (fiber) (50 grams);
• decorative bouquet;
• plastic pot;
• foam balls (1 and 5 millimeters in diameter);
• beads of different diameters;
• satin ribbon;
• alabaster;
• water;
• sand;
• decorative hot glue;

Paint a plastic ball and two thin dry twigs with acrylic paint white and wait until it dries completely.

Use a knife to make a small hole in the ball and insert two branches into it, fix with hot glue.

Now you can do the crown balls. To do this, take a small piece of milky sisal fiber and roll it into a tight ball. You need a lot of balls.

Advice:
To make the ball less fluffy, you can slightly moisten your hands with water.

Glue the sisal balls to the base ball, starting from the bottom, around the trunk. After the second row of balls, glue a decorative bouquet. Gradually glue the entire base ball with sisal to the end.

Organza topiary

We will need:

• organza 70 centimeters wide (2.5 meters);
• foam ball (7 centimeters in diameter);
• stapler;
• hot glue;
• glue gun;
• a pot of a suitable size;
• polyurethane foam;
• scissors;
• decorative branch (driftwood);
• satin ribbon.
• For decoration: sisal, chamomile, apple, lagurus, corrugated cardboard strips, fabric flowers.

Start by preparing a topiary trunk. To do this, find a decorative snag and wrap it with satin ribbon, the end of which you glue with a glue gun.

Take a Styrofoam ball and slide it over the decorated barrel, which has been previously coated with glue.

Now take a pot and insert a driftwood into it, and fill the pot with polyurethane foam. Leave to set overnight. Cut off excess foam from the pot in the morning.

Advice:
the main thing - do not fill to the brim: the foam, as a rule, increases in size.

Take care of the crown. Take an organza 2-2.5 meters and cut it into squares, you can into rectangles. Fold and secure with a stapler, cut off the ends.

Dissolve the alabaster in a separate container: fill in the powder, dilute it with water, mix everything thoroughly. Pour the alabaster into the pot, insert the trunk of our tree into it and pour decorative sand on top. Tamp the sand so that it sinks slightly into the alabaster.

After complete hardening (20 minutes), tilt the tree and pour out the unsticked sand.

Next, we decorate the crown. To do this, paint the styrofoam balls purple. After the paint has completely dried, glue the balls to the crown. Also decorate the tree with beads of different diameters. Tie a wide satin ribbon bow on the trunk.

New Year's topiary of cones and pine twigs

We will need:

• pine cones;
• twigs (pine or spruce);
• small ball-shaped Christmas tree decorations;
• pot;
• alabaster (stucco);
• wire (thin floristic);
• skewers (topiary trunk);
• thermal gun (glue);
• decor for a pot (a little twine and burlap).

Advice:
for such a topiary, a foam ball is not required, since we will use long cones for the tree of happiness. There is only one thing: if the cones are small, then you need to attach them to a wire and to a foam ball to give the topiary volume. By the way, a foam ball can be replaced with an ordinary newspaper, tightly crumpled into a ball and wrapped with any thread.

So, let's get down to the topiary. Wrap the cones at the base with wire so that a tail 7-10 centimeters long remains.

Start twisting the tails of the wire together, distributing the bumps relative to each other. You should have a spherical crown.

Fix the crown on wooden skewers with hot glue.

Now dilute the gypsum to the consistency of thick sour cream and put it in a prepared container. Place the resulting structure from the trunk and crown in plaster and wait a couple of minutes until it solidifies completely.

Decorate the tree trunk with ribbon or twine.

The pot can be decorated with burlap. Make nice folds and give it a pouch shape, and tie a satin ribbon on top.

The crown of the topiary can be additionally decorated with small red Christmas balls and pine branches using glue.

The desire of mankind to do everything "quickly" was reflected in such painstaking garden art as topiary. The formation of a fancy tree crown, which sometimes takes decades, now takes no more than a few months. Who made the hard work of the gardener so easy? As usual, the fastest nation in the world. Trying to swallow up another portion of fast food at lightning speed, one of the Americans figured out how to make fast topiary quickly and easily. Growing an intricate green figure, thanks to a sparkling thought from across the ocean, is now easier than ever - you don't have to wait for years for a tree to grow, and then cut it for a long time to achieve a certain crown configuration. It is enough just to purchase a ready-made wire frame, fill it with an earthy mixture, plant ground cover plants and - voila! The topiary is ready. Curious? To be continued…

The desire to diversify our lives prompts all of us to search for an exciting activity designed to paint monotonous everyday life in bright colors. If your passion is a garden and a vegetable garden, why not transform your backyard with an original plant figure - a duck or a peacock, an elephant or a lion ... or maybe you prefer a flower car? The ancient art of topiary, reshaped in a modern way, will allow you, without straining, to create a topiary with your own hands literally within one day. Of course, provided that you have not conceived to do something large-scale, striking in its dimensions to the owners of nearby land. To begin with, it is better to try your hand at creating a small garden figurine using the topiary frame technique, gradually moving on to more complex compositions.

Learning how to make a topiary with your own hands using a ready-made metal frame is within the power of any gardener who has the necessary patience and perseverance. First, you need to choose a frame for the future green sculpture. Its size and shape should fit harmoniously into the garden landscape. It is better to take a small but expressive form - after all, you create an accent that is simply obliged to attract attention.

Expressive green sculpture inspired by Formula 1 made of ground cover plants on the basis of a frame

Exotic ostriches created on the basis of spherical topiary bushes will add a touch of extravagance to your garden

Ready-made frames, which can be purchased at specialized garden stores, are made from 2-3 mm wire. They are a lattice structure with sufficient gaps to penetrate inside. In addition, in the upper part of the frame there is a cover, which is designed to further simplify access to the “insides” of the metal structure when it is filled with a substrate - a mixture of soil with peat or with sphagnum moss.

Before starting to fill the frame, the moss must be soaked in warm water for about 30 minutes. Filling the structure of the future topiary with a substrate, it is necessary to prudently create holes in which ground cover or curly, succulent or herbaceous garden crops are then planted. For such purposes, the following are perfect: rejuvenated, saxifrage, sedum, loosestrife, ivy, grapes.

When the topiary is formed from weaving plants, the earthen ball is moved from the plastic container to the metal mold, and the shoots are distributed along the frame and tied with U-shaped clips. If the figure for creating topiary is medium or large, to lighten its weight, bags with crushed foam are placed inside the substrate.

Fluffy hedgehogs, born thanks to frame topiary, will decorate the green lawn on your site

A cute family of pigs, made on the basis of a frame and ground cover plants, will create an unusual color in the garden

Caring for frame topiary involves regular watering and feeding, pinching and pruning. It should be remembered that such a green sculpture should not be left to winter outdoors - it is better to bring it into an unheated room with an air temperature of about 5 degrees. If the weight or volume of the topiary does not allow this, you can cover it with a wooden box insulated with straw or foam.

Curly haircut of a bush - topiary in the form of an elephant is within the power of experienced masters of green sculpture

Technique # 2 - Espress Topiary

In an effort to further speed up the process of creating complex green sculptures, an express topiary was invented. The essence of this method of forming topiary is simple - in the spring such weaving plants as periwinkle, maiden grapes, ivy or hops are planted in open ground, which tend to quickly form shoots.

Then, a metal mesh frame is installed over the planting, which serves as the basis for creating topiary. As they grow, the branches of the plants are distributed along the frame and secured with a rope made of natural material or cut. By the end of the season, the frame will overgrow, the metal rods will completely hide under the green cover - you just need to remember to water and feed the topiary.

Only a couple of months will pass and the frame of the retro car will turn into a green sculpture of unprecedented beauty

The pyramidal shapes of the trees, created using the topiary technique, add solemnity and elegance to the garden landscape

Technique # 3 - classic topiary

Of course, the ancient Roman gardeners could not even imagine how much modern society would transform the classic park art, similar in design to sculptural modeling. Indulging in topiary, they did not in the least try to speed up the process of creating a living sculpture, on the contrary, they found charm in a leisurely search for the ideal form. If you are closer to the classic approach in spirit, then you can make topiary the way the Romans did it, and behind them the gardeners of the 18-19 centuries. What is needed for this? A lot of patience, imagination and a well-honed tool: garden or trellis shears, delimber, pruner, wooden slats.

The combination of trimmed curbs and pyramid topiary clearly separates the lawn from the path

Here are some tips on how to make a classic topiary. It is best to start "sharpening" the skill with simple geometric shapes. Moreover, a simple three-dimensional figure can be easily complicated by transforming it into another - turn a cube into a ball, a cylinder or a pyramid - into a cone.

Pyramidal topiary, towering against the background of globular bushes, create an unusual contrast of shape and color

Simple geometric topiary

You need to start by identifying a “patient” for your first exercises. So, let's go in search. Your goal is a tree or bush aged 5 years and older, with a well-developed root system and a crown larger than the intended size of the figure. Quite good options for making a topiary, choose from such plants as spruce or prickly, brilliant cotoneaster, purple bladder, pinnately cut hawthorn, Tatar maple. Topiary haircut is best done in March or April, or from June to August, but not in autumn, so as not to weaken the plant before wintering.

Topiary complex geometric shapes are created over the years - they require painstaking cutting of the crown as it grows

Here is a step-by-step instruction that will help you complete a topiary in the form of a cube:

1. On the ground, under the crown of the tree, you need to draw a square with the desired length of the side of the cube.
2. At the corners of the square, install wooden slats or bamboo sticks with a diameter of 2-3 cm and fasten them together with horizontal transverse strips - this will be your reference frame.
3. Using trellis scissors, perform a rough cut, outlining the approximate contours of the figure - start at the top edge, then work on the side ones.
4. After checking the sides of the cube for curvature, correct the planes and proceed to a fine haircut, gradually trimming the volume.
5. Apply the finishing touch with a pruner, removing small twigs that are knocked out of the total mass.

It is important to know! Periodically move away at a distance of 3-4 meters from the topiary in order to assess the correctness of the form from afar.

A grape gazebo harmoniously exists next to an unusual landscape created with topiary on the lake

Complex topiary

A topiary in the form of a ball can be made from a cube by truncating its edges. The most suitable plants for a spherical topiary: purple willow, Thunberg barberry, vesicle, western thuja, gray spirea, common spruce, yew, boxwood and many others.

A spherical topiary molded from a standard tree will look spectacular both in a regular and in a landscape landscape.

A cylindrical topiary, as a rule, can be easily made from western thuja, a variety of which naturally has the shape of a column. Quite good cylinders can also be obtained from European larch, round-leaved irgi, small-leaved linden. The principle of cutting topiary in the form of a column is the same as that of a cubic one. Under the crown of the tree, draw a circle, set the guiding wooden stakes and cut out the cylinder more boldly than the cube you conquered.

Topiary in the form of a cone and a truncated cone look good. In order to build a frame for a cone-shaped topiary, dig in at least three poles and fasten them in the center, in the place of the imaginary top of the future cone - in the likeness of an Indian wigwam. Again, nature itself comes to the aid of novice topiary, creating a western “smaragd” crown with a conical shape.

Cutting topiary in the form of clouds or “pompons” creates the effect of a landscape of extraterrestrial origin

Topiary in the form of cones or columns can serve as an excellent frame for a green path leading to a fantasy arch

By training hand firmness, you can later try your hand at performing pyramidal topiary with three and four faces, arranging a mini-complex of Egyptian pyramids in your garden, giving your site a completely unique look. By bringing your skill to perfection, you will smoothly move on to creating such complex green sculptures as a spiral, tiered geometric volumes and their combinations, and not far off - to the figures of animals and people.

Thanks to modern vision, topiary takes on more and more complex and unexpected forms.

Classic topiary with frame

The removable metal frame, which is installed over the crown of a tree or bush, will greatly simplify the process of cutting a classic topiary. A similar auxiliary element is used to make it easier to make a topiary with your own hands and is the best fit for beginner topiary.

The easiest option for a beginner topiary is to create a green ball from a boxwood bush planted in a pot

A separate direction in topiary art is Japanese nivaki, which is a shearing of the crown of trees in the form of clouds

The plant “lives” in a mesh garment, adjusting to a given shape, and all you have to do is cut off the naughty twigs that break through in spite of the imposed growth trajectory. At the end of the formation of the crown, the frame is removed. However, many gardeners disagree with such an approach to how topiary can be made - the plant tends to grow so much with its “outfit” that it will be impossible to remove it without damaging the crown.

Among decorators, interior designers and simple needlewomen, do-it-yourself topiary is gaining more and more popularity.

Initially, topiary was called a garden with decorative trimmed plants and sculptures created from artistically trimmed trees. Topiary art has a long history. So, even in Ancient Egypt and Persia, the ability to give geometric shapes to bushes and trees was appreciated. And the most famous example of a topiary garden is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

And now topiary (or European tree) is the name for small original trees, for the manufacture of which natural and artificial materials are used. The topiary is decorative, and it depends only on the author's imagination what it will be made of. And the size of the topiary can be from 10-15 centimeters to half a meter.

Small topiary made of paper flowers

Large topiary made of artificial flowers (Author - Anna Assonova)

Topiary can be a wonderful gift for a wedding or housewarming.

What is the topiary made of

So, if you decide to make a topiary with your own hands, then you should know that a tree consists of several elements:

• the foundation
• trunk
• crown
• pot or stand

Moreover, for each of these elements, there are different shapes and materials.

Topiary base

The base can be of different shapes. Most often, a ball is used in the manufacture of topiary.

Topiary in the form of a ball

But there are topiary in the form of a heart, as well as in the form of various shapes. Experienced needlewomen create blanks in the form of numbers (if the tree is intended as a gift for a birthday or memorable date), as well as in the form of letters.

Topiary - heart

As a base for a ball or heart, you can use a foam blank, polyurethane foam or a papier-mâché ball. Curly bases are thick wire, foam or cardboard.

The basis for the topiary is a foam ball

Topiary trunk

The trunk can be thick wire entwined with twine, floral tape or plastered over with plastic.

You can also use a regular wooden branch (for reliability, it is better to clean it from the bark and cover it with wood stain and varnish).

A short, straight barrel is made from several sushi sticks or wooden skewers joined together.

Crown topiary

The crown of the topiary is a huge scope for imagination. You can use absolutely everything: paper (paper napkins, cut flowers, corrugated paper, quilling paper or folded origami - kusudama), flowers made of cold porcelain or polymer clay, satin and nylon ribbons, felt or cotton, buttons and beads, coffee, shells , dried leaves and other natural materials, and much, much more.

Topiary in the Kanzashi technique from the remnants of fabric (author - Tatyana Babikova)

Topiary made of corrugated paper and natural materials

Topiary made of corrugated paper and organza (author - Tatiana Kovaleva)

Topiary made from natural materials (leaves, apples, acorns)

Topiary of flowers (origami - kusudama)

Topiary stand

Depending on the idea and size of the tree, an ordinary flower pot, an iron bucket (painted with paints or decorated using decoupage technique), a beautiful flat stone or a shell can become a stand. You can decorate the stand with fabric or lace. Or maybe it will be a nice cup? You decide.

Shell topiary stand

Topiary stand is decorated with fabric and cinnamon sticks

Topiary stands (from left to right): flower pot, crocheted jar, cloth-covered bowl

Ceramic mug topiary stand

Preparation of the necessary materials

Before starting work on the topiary, carefully consider the idea and all the materials used. The idea will depend on the purpose of the tree and the hobbies of its future owner. Collect materials. Attach the crown elements to the workpiece. Decide what decorative items you will take.

Beads of different sizes and decorative dragonflies were used as a decoration for the topiary.

Beads, braid, sisal and a decorative watering can are used as decoration for the topiary.

Making the trunk

The next step is to prepare the barrel. As already mentioned, depending on the material, it must be wrapped with twine or varnished.

We attach the base of the tree to one end of the trunk. The ball can be simply inserted, and it is better to fix some curly base with glue.

The other end of the barrel is inserted into the prepared vessel. Usually it is fastened with polystyrene, which is then filled with alabaster or cement.

Topiary barrel is glued to the foam

At first, it will be difficult to guess with the consistency: if the solution is too liquid, then it will dry for a very long time. And if you make it thick, then it will not fill all the empty space between the pot and the foam.

Experienced needlewomen advise to achieve the consistency of store sour cream: not very liquid, but sliding off the spoon and easily changing shape.

Pour the solution into the prepared mold, flatten the top and leave to dry completely.

We decorate the crown

While the base is drying, you can make crown elements: leaves, flowers.

Let me remind you once again that it is necessary to fix them after the base is completely dry.

Depending on the base material, flowers can be attached with hot glue, or they can be stuck in with small skewers or wire.

Ornamental trees are considered a worthy home decoration. They are appropriate in any interior, you just need to think over the color scheme in advance, which fits into the finished design project. Ornamental trees do not require special maintenance and care conditions. They do not need to be watered as they are artificial plants. These decor items are freely sold in stores, but it is better to make a topiary with your own hands. It will take some time to make it, but in the end you will get a unique decorative tree that fits perfectly into the existing interior of the room. And it is better to build a topiary yourself, because according to the ancient Chinese teachings of Feng Shui, this tree brings joy to the house. By making a decorative tree, a person charges it. According to legend, topiary can only bring happiness to its creator.

Topiary: history of appearance and meaning in modern interior

The word topiary or topiary comes from the term "topia" - an ornamental garden plot. The concept came from Ancient Rome and meant various figures carved from the crowns of trees or bushes. The ancient Roman civilization disappeared, but the ideas of beautifully decorating the gardens were taken up by the Catholic Church. Then the topiary entered secular life. They flourished in the 17th century: it was then that ornamental trees appeared in the residences of the rulers of states, incl. and in the Russian Empire. Then they were forgotten, but in the 20th century, topiary again became popular. Now they were no longer used to decorate the gardens and walls of palaces, but were planted in pots. Today, topiary is no longer planted. They can be made from any material. Topiary is made in the most bizarre shapes and colors, often quite controversially combining materials. In another way, they are called trees of happiness, considering that they bring joy to the house. They can be made from:

• coffee beans;
• walnuts;
• fir cones;
• straw;
• sweets;
• napkins;
• silk ribbons;
• plastic bags, etc.

Where to start assembling wood

The assembly of the topiary must begin with planning the appearance of the future tree of happiness and finding the necessary parts. The appearance of the topiary is determined by the style of the interior for which it is made. To begin with, there are the materials necessary to design the base of the tree. In any case, you will need tapes, glue, colored paper, polystyrene, polyurethane foam, etc. The list of details is limited only by the imagination of the creator. After collecting the necessary things, you can start creating a topiary. First, the trunk is assembled, because it is the basis of the topiary. Moreover, it must not only be strengthened, but also varnished or painted. Then one end of the trunk is attached to a pot, stone or sink, and a ball is hung on the second, which will later become the crown of a tree of happiness. It is best to use glue to hold all parts of the topiary together.

The foundation

To construct the base of the tree of happiness, whatever is at hand at this moment will do. To make a base from newspapers, first you need to crumple them well, and only then form a sphere according to the given parameters. Newspapers are crumpled and pressed tightly, after which they are wrapped with duct tape. You can also make a base from newspaper clippings, but in this case they should be folded into a plastic bag. If you need to make a small base of padding polyester, first you need to tamp it into a sock or stocking, then give it the necessary shape and wind it tightly with threads for sewing. It is even better to make this base from foam, taking ordinary packaging from household appliances. But the foam crumbles, it is inconvenient to roll it into a ball, so such a base is not very popular. In addition to the above, the following materials can become the basis of topiary:

• polyurethane foam;
• knitting thread;
• papier-mache, etc.

Trunk

The trunk of the tree of happiness connects the base with the crown, so it must be strong and stable. It can be played by an ordinary wire secured with artistic tape, twine or plastic. For a realistic product, this trunk can be made from a wooden branch or a chip. But first, this branch must be cleaned of bark, varnished and stained. If a low topiary is made, then as a trunk you can take a popsicle stick, sushi sticks or wooden skewers fastened together. The color and type of trunk depends on the base and crown material. For topiary with coffee beans, white or brown is suitable. A curved trunk for a European tree can only be made of wire. You can also take any material that is approximately suitable for the trunk of the topiary, arrange it and fill it with plaster.

Crown

Absolutely any materials that are at hand at the moment are suitable for making a crown of topiary. To do this, you can take paper napkins, corrugated paper, folded origami, nylon ribbons, etc. Then the crown must be decorated. To do this, take fir cones, real seashells, coffee beans, artificial flowers, etc. The crown is the main accent of the tree of happiness, so its design must be approached very seriously. The trunk and stand only emphasize the general theme of the topiary, so it is advisable to first decide on the material for the crown, and only then construct the rest of the tree. But the trunk of the topiary may not withstand too large a crown, so it should not be overloaded. You can only decorate the stand of the tree of happiness with some elements.

Stand

As a stand for topiary, you can take an ordinary flower pot, a large flat stone or an iron bucket, decorate them beautifully and put them under the crown. The decor of the tree of happiness stand can be anything. It is decorated using the decoupage technique, decorated with lace or bright unusual patches. The stand can be used to stick stones, shells and artificial flowers. This element of the topiary is a semantic continuation of the crown, therefore, its design must be based on the existing elements of the decorative product. If the tree is decorated in a nautical style, then seashells and multi-colored pebbles will be appropriate, and for a topiary in a romantic style, you will need lace and colored paper hearts. The size of the crown of the tree should be larger than its stand, so that the composition looks harmonious.

Wood making workshops

Making a topiary with your own hands is simple. You don't need to have an artistic taste or a designer education to do this. The ideal happiness tree is decorated intuitively from the materials available. There are many workshops on this topic on the Internet, some of them are presented below, but you should not follow these instructions step by step. According to feng shui, topiary quickly and effectively activates any sector of an apartment or house, instantly filling it with the necessary energy. But for proper operation, it must be decorated with the necessary elements. To normalize family relations, jasper or amazonite should be glued to the topiary stand. A tree with a tiger's eye, charoite or turquoise will help to climb the career ladder. And to improve the general financial situation, you need to decorate the topiary with jet or a hawk's eye.

From coffee beans

For this topiary, you need to take high-quality large coffee beans and stick them on the base for the crown, laying them out with the central strip down. The ball is completely pasted over. For this, it is better to take a glue gun, although you can do without it, using ordinary glue from a tube. When the ball is completely sealed, a plastic tube is taken, which is sealed along the entire length with double-sided tape, 2-3 cm away from both edges. Satin ribbon, fabric or corrugated paper of the desired color is glued to the tape. Then you need to dilute the alabaster and pour the resulting mixture into a pot or iron bucket. Then a barrel is inserted into this mixture and they wait for the alabaster to harden. After the mixture has hardened, its surface is laid out with coffee beans in 2-3 layers. The finished crown is glued onto the trunk itself.

The resulting topiary can be decorated with an elegant bow or costume jewelry.

From cones

Do-it-yourself topiary from cones is made according to a similar scheme. Small half-open pine cones are glued to the foam ball at small intervals from each other. If the gaps are too large, they can be filled with acorns or chestnuts. For additional fixation of the elements, you can use golden or brown threads. To make the trunk, you need to put together several (up to 10) bamboo skewers, wrap them with thick white or brown thread, leaving open areas along the edges of the sticks. Then you need to dissolve alabaster with water or take a ready-made cement mixture, pour it into a flower pot and insert the tree trunk into the base. When the mixture hardens, it is decorated with needles or sisal, the fully decorated crown of the tree of happiness is attached to the trunk, and the pot is decorated with a satin or openwork ribbon.

From satin ribbons and other fabrics

As a basis for topiary made of satin ribbons, you can take a foam sphere or a ball of crumpled newspapers, secured with thick threads dipped in PVA glue. Then you need to take satin ribbons of any color, twist them into small rolls, pre-bending the ribbons at right angles. You need to bend the satin ribbon several times until its length ends. The result of these actions should be a rosebud. At the end of the production, it is necessary to sew all the petals with a thin silk thread at the base. The number of such roses is determined by the size of the base. Usually 20-30 flowers are required. Then they decorate the crown of the topiary. You can take an ordinary twig as a trunk for such a tree, and use a clay flower pot for a stand. The stand and tree trunk should be decorated with elegant green satin ribbon or silk leaves.

Corrugated paper

First you need to take a round styrofoam ball. Then you need to make corrugated paper roses. If they are very large, then there will be a lot of free space between the flowers, which will need to be closed with something, so it is better to make these roses medium. One small topiary will need 35-45 roses. To do this, it is better to take paper of different colors in order to alternate the shades of roses on the topiary in the future. The trunk for a tree of happiness can be made from traditional sushi sticks, and you can use ordinary foam as a soil. Alabaster is hard to make and Styrofoam is easy to find. Only the barrel must be inserted into the foam base the first time. At the same time, it is necessary to decorate the crown, gluing roses in a chaotic manner. Then the crown is attached to the trunk and the topiary is considered ready. If desired, the soil in the pot is laid out with artificial grass, and the tree trunk is decorated with a bright bow.

The Sea Tree of Happiness can be crafted from materials brought from the sea: pebbles, shells, dried crabs and pearls. They should paste over the base for the crown of the topiary. If there are few seashells and pebbles, the space between them can be decorated with sisal, artificial starfish, and nautical-themed salt dough crafts. When performing the topiary trunk, it is better to take sushi sticks decorated with satin ribbons of white, blue or sand color. As a stand for the tree of happiness, you should take a white flower pot, which can be decorated with artificial pearls, lace and small figurines made of salt dough. Inside this pot, you need to fill it with alabaster and insert the topiary trunk into this alabaster mixture. Sisal fibers, sea pebbles and shells can be placed on top of the hardened fill.

Money topiary of coins and bills

This topiary is usually made from counterfeit bills, but real coins can be attached to the crown of a tree or stand for entourage. Of course, it is better to use not ordinary, but rare, ancient or foreign coins. To begin with, each bill needs to be folded in half, slightly shifting the edges, and then fold the envelope out of it, securing the uneven edges with double-sided tape. The number of bills depends on the size of the base ball, but traditionally it takes about 20-25 bills. The trunk of a money tree can be made from twigs or sticks for sushi, and you can take a flowerpot as a stand. From the outside, the planter can be decorated with special self-adhesive paper with a picture of money or lace. Alabaster is poured into the pot itself, the trunk is put in it and it is waited for it to dry. After that, the topiary soil is laid out with coins, wood sawdust or decorative stones.

From dried flowers and fresh flowers

A tree made of dried flowers is quite simple. You can decorate the base for the crown of the topiary with dried flowers and yellowed leaves, but the flowers and leaves taken for these purposes must be strong and dense, otherwise they will simply fall apart during work. The dried flowers are fixed directly to the foam ball. A curved twig from the street is taken as a trunk, and an ordinary clay pot turns into a stand. The pot inside is poured with alabaster, previously fixing the trunk of the topiary. This trunk is inserted into the finished crown of the tree, and the dried alabaster is decorated with dry leaves and flowers. Natural flower topiary is usually created by professional florists, but you can try to make it yourself at home. To do this, you need to take rosebuds, chamomile, lily or chrysanthemum flowers, correctly and carefully cut their stems and attach them to the base of the crown. For the rest, the method of producing a tree of happiness and decorating a pot for topiary is similar to making it from dried flowers.

"Green sculptures" in the gardens were made in the days of the Roman Empire. In the gardens of Julius Caesar, as Pliny the Younger describes in his writings, complex figures of animals, inscriptions, obelisks and pyramids were created from trees and bushes.

The heyday of the art of creating topiary fell on the Renaissance. In the gardens of France, which is considered the trendsetter in this type of landscape design, real green labyrinths, rooms were created, gardeners came up with interesting and very beautiful forms. It was the Versailles Gardens in France with their exquisite topiary that became the source of inspiration for the creation of the Peterhof gardens in Russia.

In China and Japan, the art of curly pruning of trees - bonsai is also popular. Gardens and parks in these countries are unique. Craftsmen, cutting off all unnecessary, create their own unique compositions.

How to create a topiary garden

Creation is a very painstaking and lengthy process. To form an ideal figure, you need the imagination of a master and a good eye. Before you start creating a topiary, you must carefully prepare the soil and mark out the places for planting plants. Fertilize the soil before planting, based on the needs of the crop. This will help speed up the growth of shrubs and trees and make them more lush. Plant the plants in the garden according to the prepared plan and after they take root, you can start creating topiary.

The choice of trees and shrubs for a topiary garden depends on the preferences of its owners; many plants tolerate shearing well. But it is best to form figures from shrubs and trees with dense small foliage or needles.

Conifers are the easiest to form, such as:

• thuja western Smarand,


• thuja Globoza,


• cossack juniper,


• prickly spruce.

To create topiary from deciduous plants, go well:

• boxwood,


• barberry,


• honeysuckle,


• cotoneaster,


• hawthorn,


• laurel noble.

You can create unusual topiary and large figures from elm or linden. Very quickly, you can grow a topiary garden using beautiful spireas, vesicle, Tatar maple. However, only simple geometric shapes can be formed from these plants, for example, a ball or a cube, since the plants grow very quickly and require constant shearing.

Step-by-step master class on creating a topiary

Topiary in the form of a cube Step 1. To form the topiary, make a frame. To create a cube shape. To do this, draw a square on the ground around the plant.

Step 2. At each corner of the square, install wooden battens and firmly fasten them together with horizontal battens. Directly above the bush, you will get a structure, the wooden slats of which will serve as parameters for a haircut.

Step 3. Take the trellis shears and cut off the branches that go beyond the structure. Cut slightly above the line defined by the strips so you can correct if you make a mistake.

Step 4. Move away from the bush to the side about 3 meters and evaluate whether it worked out evenly. Take the pruning shears and bring the figure to a perfect condition and remove the slats.

Topiary in the form of a ball

Step 1. Form a cube from a bush, as described in the previous master class.

Step 2. Make a cardboard frame. Measure the height and radius of the bush, subtract 2 cm (per cut) from these measurements and mark them on the sheet. Draw a semicircle and cut out the template.

Step 3. Place the pattern vertically on the bush and cut off the branches that go beyond the template. Then attach the leaf to the other side of the bush and also cut off any excess branches. Move away from the plant periodically to assess whether you have trimmed the bush evenly.

Having learned how to create beautiful geometric shapes with your own hands, you can start creating creative shapes and form topiary in the form of spirals, buttons, complex shapes. New ideas will suggest the natural outlines of a tree or shrub that you have chosen to form a topiary with your own hands. And the source of inspiration for you will be the topiary created by the masters of famous gardens in the world, among which are the Ladywy Public Garden in Maryland, USA, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, Drummond Park in Scotland, Levens Hall Manor Park in England, Chateau de Villandry Terraced Garden in France, and lovers of garden art can admire not only their photographs, but also live. All of them are open to the public.

Gardeners do not only shape neat hedges, arches, geometric and creative shapes. They have created topiary, the ideas of which are prompted by the environment and which are real works of garden art.

Topiary care

Do not forget to regularly feed the clipped plants with complex fertilizers and water them so that they build up the green mass and there are no bare branches. Please note that the haircut stimulates tillering, respectively, the buds located close to the cut site begin to actively grow. As the branches grow, adjust the shape of the topiary.

It is best to start forming plants in the spring, after the foliage has appeared, the shape adjustment can be carried out throughout the summer. Please note that it is not worth forming topiary before winter, since a haircut is always stress for a plant, and during a period when growth and development slows down, haircut can lead to the fact that it will be weakened and, as a result, prone to pests and diseases.