People have been trimming trees and bushes into fancy shapes for hundreds of years. Apparently it started with the Romans who pruned cypress trees. The Dutch were the first to create animal shapes whereas the English stuck to the more formal pillars and pyramids. It was not until 1690 that the practice reached North America at Williamsburg, Virginia. I learned this from an article which I found on the Weekend Gardener website which also includes tips on how to create your own topiary.

Topiaries are a plant art form that was described as early as 23-79 A.D.? During this time Ancient Romans would prune cypress trees into different shapes.? As Rome fell so did the popularity of topiaries.
During medieval times, this art form was again discovered but utilized fruit trees instead of cypress trees.? The Dutch, during the 15^th century became interested in sculpting plants into animal shapes.? In 17^th century England, a resurgence of this art form reappeared.

During the 18^th century, plant design became more natural and in turn plant sculpture became out of vogue.
As estates grew across Europe so did the popularity of topiaries.? This period of history brought new plant material and gardening techniques to the estate horticulturalists.
The concept of topiaries traveled to North America by way of Willimsburg, Virginia in 1690.? Topiary popularity grew until World War I and World War II.? Both of these events caused the large estates in Europe to fall and with the dismantling of these estates so did the popularity of plant sculpting.
During the 1950?s and 1960?s, topiaries began to show up.? These topiaries were not the traditional kind that were found in the garden but instead began to show up as houseplants.
Today, topiaries can be found anywhere.? Some take the shape of animals while others are pruned a certain shape associated with a particular holiday.? Regardless of the shape of design, the easiest topiary to create is the indoor variety.

See more at the Weekend Gardener
Image source: Anders Sandberg