Longwood Gardens for topiary near Philadelphia, USA. Located 30 miles from Philadelphia, Longwood Gardens was deemed by Geoffrey Jellicoe, founding president of the International Federation of Landscape Architects, to be "one of the truly outstanding American estates." Established and organized largely by Pierre du Pont in the early 20th century, the property originally belonged to founder of the Province of Pennsylvania William Penn. Penn sold it to a fellow Quaker named George Peirce who shared his curiosity and reverence for plants and the natural world. The Peirce family established an arboretum there and when the land came up for sale in 1906, Du Pont purchased it largely to save the trees. After traveling the world and visiting many famous gardens, Du Pont settled down at Longwood to begin building his own extensive gardens. Influenced by European topiary art, he established a garden of yews clipped into geometric forms and the shapes of animals and even a table and ...
Boxwood (Buxus) shrubs can be found all over the world in gardens and commercial properties worldwide because they last with proper care, for many years. Because they are available in many different shapes and sizes, they are a favourite of specialist gardens who like to ply their hand at Topiary. Weird and wonderful shapes can be made from small box hedges, to animal characteristics like bears and birds. In fact you can use Boxwood shrubs so widely, its easy to see why they are so popular. Known as "man's oldest garden ornamental plant”, ancient Egyptians used boxwood plants as early as 4,000 B.C. as decorative plants. They need proper planting and care, and in return your boxwood shrubs will thrive for many years to come. There are over 90 different species in boxwood trees and shrubs with some having dark green glossy leaves, others having variegated leaves some round, some more elliptical. No wonder they are so popular and there is a great variation ...