In pure dictionary terms, Topiary is the art and practice of clipping trees and shrubs into ornamental shapes. The word has both Latin and Greek roots, the Latin being topia; mural decorations depicting landscapes, and topiarus, more appropriately, a landscape gardener. The Greek topis is simply a place.

The fact that the word alone has such ancient roots is some hint as to how old the practice is. Although the seventeenth century is often seen as the era which gave rise to the popularity of Topiary, especially within the French court, the art of clipping plants into unnatural and formalized shapes goes back many thousands of years, to the time of the ancient Egyptians and the Persians. In both cultures an appreciation of form and function gave rise to a desire to see that widely represented, especially within architecture. And from this developed the formalised garden, with pathways, fountains, planters, borders and, of course, neatly clipped hedges and shrubs.

A little further East from the valleys of the Nile, the creation of formal gardens reached magnificent proportions, and no greater than in one of the wonders of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. There seems little doubt that topiary, especially clipped Myrtle, was central to what were the most famous gardens in history.

If the art was appreciated by the ruling classes, and created for their benefit, the work itself was almost certainly carried out by salves. It was the expansion of the Roman Empire to include the Near East, and the return to Rome of slaves from Egypt,

Palestine, Persia and Syria in the later centuries BC that introduced the art of Topiary to Rome. There is evidence of courtyard gardens and formal flowerbeds in villas and Roman settlements throughout the Empire, even as far west as Britain.

With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire the art did not die out completely. Indeed, it survived and grew in harmony with the new religious orders. Monks, who appreciated the peaceful tranquility of the cloistered garden for contemplation and prayer, included topiary and also refined the parterre and knot garden, the latter often in association with the growing of herbs for medicine and culinary use.

For almost a thousand years the art of Topiary remained hidden behind the monastery wall. It wasn’t until the coming of the Renaissance and the flowering of all forms of art that records demonstrate a wider appreciation and reintroduction of the formal garden. Topiary too enjoyed a renaissance. By the mid sixteenth century two fundamentals had changed.

On the one hand, major international warfare was on the wane, at least for the time being, and on the other, battles when they did take place, were dominated by the gun. It seems strange to credit gunpowder with a flourishing in landscape gardening, but the perfection of the canon had rendered the fortified castle redundant. It was now too easy to breach a rampart and demolish a barbican, so why spend the family fortune on a building that encouraged destruction? Instead new mansions and country houses, chateaux and palaces were built for the sole purpose of making a home, often with excessive flamboyance and panache. Simultaneously, fashion demanded somewhere to exercise, to socialize, and to display one’s metaphorical plumage. The formal garden was reborn.

One of the first of these was executed by Andre le Notre for King Louis IV at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. Begun in about 1520, the Versailles style became de rigueur throughout ‘civilized’ Europe, and was widely adopted by all the Royal households and well-to-do. Over the next hundred years the groundwork established at Versailles was honed and embellished, with British gardeners of the period among some of the most enthusiastic followers of the new Topiary trend. While elsewhere the stylized hedges that so characterized Versailles were slavishly copied, in Britain and Holland it was the individual specimen that gained prominence. Gardens such as those that still survive at Levens Hall in Cumbria, were typical of the time, although the creation of mazes, like the one at Hampton Court, were equally popular. Frances Bacon was a huge fan!

Like any craze, the popularity for Topiary waxed and waned through the eighteenth century, plummeting to a low with the introduction of the rural landscape period, pioneered by ‘Capability’ Brown. Alexander Pope was highly critical of Topiary, and ridiculed its use. A desire for more ‘intimate’ gardening in the early nineteenth century, however, saw a period of revival, especially when the now-traditional “cottage” garden came into vogue. Now perceived to be the archetypal British garden, this style encouraged gardeners to include the occasional specimen topiary bush, yew hedge or semi-formal knot garden. Designs such as Mon Plaisir at Elvaston Caste in Derbyshire are typical of this period, and heralded a massive grass-roots interest made possible by the Victorian’s ingenuity for gadgets and tools. Having previously been the privilege of the rich, Topiary was now open to anyone able to afford a decent set of secateurs and some patience.

Topiary has enjoyed a constant popularity ever since. If leading designers of their time could use Topiary, as Vita Sackville West had done in her influential gardens at Sissinghurst in Kent, then so could Everyman. Perceived, perhaps, as somewhat suburban through the Sixties and Seventies (no small thanks due to clichéd topiary peacocks and chessmen!) then the move towards minimalist modern designs in the closing decades of the Twentieth Century allowed Topiary to regain some credibility.

Today the art enjoys a popularity that has been unparalleled since the heady heyday of pre-Revolutionary France, and is as much at home on the rooftop penthouse patio as it is in the courtyard of some country estate or chateaux.

This Brief History of Topiary has been prepared exclusively for Oxford Planters, with thanks to those who have supplied photographs and reference.

Useful links to:

Levens Hall, Cumbria

Sissinghurst Castle, Kent

Chateau de Versailles, Paris, France

Chateau Royale d'Amboise, Loire Valley, France

The Royal Abbey at Fontevraud, Loire Valley, France