Holly, Yew and Box 



Topiary Work 



For topiary work the Yew has long been 

 famous, and although it is not the oldest subject 

 that has been used for the purpose it has perhaps 

 been used more than any other. Its small foliage 

 and naturally close habit has been greatly in its 

 favour for this particular kind of work, whilst 

 the manner in which it will stand cropping 

 year after year stamped it at once as a likely 

 subject. Evelyn claims to have been the first 

 person to discover its merits for this work, and 

 in Evelyn's time topiary work was popular, com- 

 paratively small specimens being worth $ each. 

 Although this kind of work does not find much 

 favour among horticulturists nowadays, there 

 are still gardens where a speciality is made of it, 

 and in many gardens one or more examples of 

 the work may be found. Two gardens noted 

 for topiary work are Leven's Hall, Westmor- 

 land, and Elvaston Castle near Derby. Two 

 curiously clipped trees, about 20 feet in height, 

 may be seen in the churchyard at Bedfont in 

 Middlesex, about 2^ miles on the Staines side of 

 Hounslow. They stand close to the church door 

 and just behind them the wooden steeple rises, the 

 whole having a quaint appearance. The formal 

 appearance of these clipped trees is intensified 

 by a fine naturally grown tree of the same sort 

 growing on one side and a Weeping Willow on 



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