Topiary is the art of training and shaping shrub plants into interesting shapes. The examples shown here are mostly simple geometric shapes such as balls and spirals, but more ambitious topiary includes birds and animals. These are in effect living sculptures so require regular clipping to keep them in shape. I found this article over on the Garden Lovers Club website.

Topiaries are a horticultural art form that involves training live perennial plants into clearly defined shapes, typically geometric, but sometimes in more fantastic shapes including animals.
As living sculptures, topiaries are typically used as decorative elements, either in planters or growing from the ground in planting beds. When we think of topiary sculptures, we think of grand gardens at castles or hotels, where ornamental gardeners spend their days trimming each topiary to be absolutely perfect.
Of course, you can find topiaries anywhere, or even grow them yourself. All it requires is a bit of forethought and patience to create a simple geometric topiary.
We?ve scoured the internet to find some of our favorite ways to create topiary displays on patios, indoors, or even just out in your garden, keeping them contained in large planters.
So let?s take a good look at all the ways you can design your topiary and get inspired!

1. Rectangle Topiaries with Lavender

Source: Land8
These primly trimmed topiary trees would look just as fantastic along your walkway or in your garden as they do in the center of this mall hallway. Adding lavender to the bottom of each display adds a wealth of color and fragrance to the display.

2. Spiral Topiaries in Rustic Wooden Planters

Source: Remodelista
The dichotomy of this display lies with the elegant spirals of branches pointing to the sky and the rustic, aged wooden planters that hold the plant structures. Allowing the natural wood grain to show is a great design choice that will allow this topiary to look great in any style garden.

3. Double Spiral Evergreen Topiary

Source: Black Gold
This double spiral topiary takes on the look of a tight helix, and comes to a point where the two spirals meet. This is a rather large sculpture that does best in a very large planter, which means it?s a heavy piece that you won?t want to be moving around very often.

4. Tall Circular Topiary In Flower Boxes

Source: Window Box Company
These taller trees are trimmed into a circle at the top, and rise from small square black planters filled with trailing greenery and vibrantly colored pansy flowers. With one on either side of the door, the pair make for a lovely addition to a front entrance and up the curb appeal of this very small street-side home.

See more at Garden Lovers Club