Topiary Gardens

What is topiary?

Topiary is the art of cutting trees and shrubs into a myriad of different shapes and designs from cubes to cones to birds and ornamental shapes. It is said to have originated from the time of the Roman Empire and as their empire spread, the art of topiary followed in their footsteps.

History of this art

With the collapse of the Roman Empire topiary was often to be found in isolated communities like monasteries. However, it took the Italian Renaissance for topiary to flourish again throughout Europe appearing in royal gardens and some of the most celebrated palaces and homes including Versailles.

Modern topiary in Britain

The fashion for topiary eventually took hold in Britain during the reign William of Orange who imported the idea from his home country of Holland. Despite many years of popularity in the end British landscape gardeners rebelled in favour of open-parks. However, at Levens topiary has survived to the present day.

For more information about Levens and other topiary gardens go to: www.levenshall.co.uk (www.levenshall.co.uk/), www.hrp.org.uk (www.hrp.org.uk/) and www.nationaltrust.org.uk (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/).