Shape Your Shrubs: Decorative Trees in Time for Summer

Most people leave their shrubs, hedges, and trees to take on any form and shape they want. You might trim branches that have gone astray or become a hazard, but you might not think about playing with shapes like rectangles, circles, and spirals to improve their aesthetic appeal.

There’s nothing wrong with using a hedge for privacy and not much else, but have you ever thought about making them more of a decoration on your property? Below, you can learn more about the best shrubs to shape and how to get started.

Best Hedge Plants for Shaping in NZ

Hedge plants consist of shrubs and trees planted together and trained to form a barrier. Most people who grow hedge plants do so for a bit of greenery on their property, sound protection, and privacy.

However, that’s not everyone’s story. If you want to plant hedge plants so they can become decorative trees on your property, you might like to grow some of the following varieties.

Buxus

Buxus hedge plants are compact and evergreen with small leaves. They are most commonly used to edge gardens and line paths, but people also use them to create beautiful topiaries or ‘box balls’. Box balls are essentially round-shaped hedge plants in a pot and can be a striking addition to any home’s entrance.

Lilly Pilly

There is certainly no shortage of lilly pilly hedges in New Zealand. It can seem like there’s a lilly pilly hedge providing a property with shelter and privacy everywhere you look. Lilly pilly is a popular hedge plant for its vibrancy and fast growth. It also thrives in free-draining soil and is reasonably easy-care compared to many other hedge species.

Like Buxus, you can shape lilly pilly into a topiary and balls, so there’s no reason you can’t have a show-stopping decorative tree on your property just in time for summer.

Wrinkle Blue

If a simple green hedge is not enough to add excitement and vibrancy to your property, consider the Wrinkle Blue hedge plant. This hedge plant is ideal for both hedges and shrub borders and produces gorgeous blue-green glossy foliage that stands out from the crowd in full sun.

When Blue Wrinkle is fully established, it can grow to about 1.5m tall. However, you can also trim it into a range of shapes.

What You Need to Shape Your Shrubs

After seeing the beautiful hedge shapes that people produce on their properties, you might assume you need a range of expensive tools and some kind of educational degree. However, that’s not the case. As far as tools go, you only need a handful of products.

Depending on the shape you’d like to achieve, most gardeners already have what they need tucked away in their garden shed: a hedge trimmer, wooden stakes, and string. However, if you hope to achieve spiral shapes, circles, and any other irregular shapes, you might also need wire meshing, a saw, and hand shears.

How to Create a Formal Hedge

Sometimes, the easiest way to make your hedge stand out for all the right reasons is by turning it into a formal hedge. This requires you to ensure it has straight edges to create defined property boundaries.

Creating a formal hedge with a straight top, back, and sides can be as easy as dusting off the hedge trimmer. However, if your hedge is large, it’s not always easy to ensure it’s straight on all sides. Before you get to work, hammer two stakes into the ground at each end of the hedge and tie a string at your desired height. When you pull it tight, it can function as a cutting guide to ensure a straight trim on all sides.

How to Cut a Round Hedge

Everyone has square and rectangular hedges. Don’t you want to stand out? You might be able to do that by cutting a round hedge. On a small hedge plant that you grow from a cutting, such as a Buxus, you’ll only need a few tools before achieving a perfectly round hedge.

Start with an ornamental pot, your box cuttings of choice, a loam-based compost, and hand shears. Put your cuttings into the pots and trim them with scissors to ensure they start growing bushy from the base. Place the pots outside and keep them fed and watered to ensure healthy growth.

Within two months, your plants will have rooted, and you can move them to a larger pot with your loam-based compost. Space the plants close together so that they knit together as they grow. Promote dense growth by pinching out the shoot tips.

It’s essentially a waiting game at this point. Water and feed your plants regularly and trim them with scissors or shears as they grow. Get into the habit of removing the tips once 2-3cm of growth has occurred. You should have a well-established, circle-shaped hedge plant in a container within three years. At this point, twice-yearly trims should be all they need to stay in shape.

How to Cut a Spiral Hedge

Cutting a spiral hedge can take time and patience, but it can be all worth it when you see the final result. Trim your hedge into a cone shape, ensuring its base is the widest point. If you notice thin areas, give them time to grow before continuing with your spiral shape.

Use a piece of string to map out where the spiral will go, and use it as a guide as you work around the plant with your shears. Always work from the plant’s base and cut at an angle below the string.

Shape Your Shrubs for Summer

Don’t put up with a boring hedge. Turn it into something spectacular. With a pair of garden shears, a piece of string, and some imagination, you can achieve some beautiful things.