Thank you so much for this!!! I want a spiral topiary so badly but they’re like $200!! 😱 I just found some great arborvitae at Walmart for $13 👏🏻 I needed this video!! 💗
Spring is the best time to do any heavy trimming and shaping, but light trimming would also be fine in summer. Just note that pruning can cause stress on a plant in extreme heat. Pruning triggers new growth, so avoid pruning a month or so before your first frost date to avoid zapping tender new growth with cold temperatures. Hope this helps!
fabulous video, no annoying chatter, just good information, i am scanning my garden, wishing i had a tree i could do this to. doesnt look hopeful, just some big old camelias, still flowering, so that wont work. I have subscribed to see what other clever ideas you have. thank you.
I never bother with the ribbon love doing these start with a scruffy plant now my garden full of these all different shapes. Work in a holiday home park. people let their plants get pot bound throw them out so I save them iv never bought a plant
I've watched this video several times and it's the best one I've found for creating a spiral topiary! I have a 9' tall 16 year old Alberta Spruce, that is in full sun. My plan is to trim it over time. It's on the southwest side of my home and it's near my hose, so it gets plenty of water. Thanks for sharing this video!
I’d like to do this on a spruce I have 8n the front of n6 home. It gets shade along the back so it’s got some die back on that side. Would this look good with it a 1/3 dead? Can I do this now in zine 7b or wait till spring?
That spruce looks fantastic!!! Wow! Once we all start going back to 'Flower & Garden' shows maybe you could sell your services. $100 for a 5' Arb in 15 mins seems like a good rate of pay, especially if you could make multiple Topiaries of the same tree/perennial. Great job Katie, personally I am too worried about my messing up to do it on my own, but I sure do enjoy them : D (and I dislike watching a specific person XVader who says she will show how to do it but conveniently skips over the more sensitive cuts.) Katie, I'll look around and see what else you have out there in RU-vid Land - I know I will be enlightened, Thank You!
That is sooo much better explained than the last time I watched a spiral topiary video! I get it now, my little 4ft beachballs are turning into an anti clockwise spiral, and a clockwise spiral as soon as the sun comes up and my dog is fed :D
After pruning to the spiral shape, you’ll get lots of new growth, so it is best to do it in the spring so that growth has a season to harden off. If you do it too late in the summer or fall, any new shoots that sprout are likely to be nipped or damaged with freezing temperatures in the winter. Hope this helps.
They can stay in the pots indefinitely (bigger is better!) but you might have to pull the plant out and do some root pruning and repot every 2-3 years to keep the tree healthy. If there are two trunks, choose the stronger of the two to act as your main trunk for the topiary. Hope that helps, thanks for watching!
Could not understand some of the words she was saying. What did she say about where the ribbon was? I have some large Alberta Spruce so I was interested in how to save them since some have dead branches so I was going to try to turn them into topiary shapes but was cautious in cutting these dead branches out to the trunk. I see a lot of these trees in big box stores with dead branches and was thinking I could to get these discounted and practice on turning them into something salvageable and beautiful?
Hi Nancy! Where you lay the ribbon is where the spiral will be, and you will cut in between creating "gutters" to create the shape. Laying out the ribbon can be a little tricky, but worth taking the time to get how you want it so you have a nice guide when you start cutting! We have more helpful details on the how-to process on our website here: www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/projects/all/how-to-create-a-spiral-topiary/ I think grabbing a discounted tree at a garden center to get some practice is a great idea!
I've got a 20+ yr old Alberta S that I'd like to spiral this Spring. Should I do it early before it starts new growth or after new growth has come in? This is the best instructional video on this topic I've been able to find in the last 4 months of looking. Thank you so much!
