Editing Topiary (section)

{{Short description|Horticultural practice to shape trees and shrubs}}
{{About|the practice of training plants|the film|A Topiary|the person|Topiary (hacktivist)}}

[[File:Cementerio, Tulcán, Ecuador, 2015-07-21, DD 60.JPG|thumb|Topiary animal in [[Tulcán]], Ecuador]]
[[File:Les Neuf Lions à Gatineau (36454060636).jpg|thumb|[[Jacques Cartier Park]], [[Gatineau]], Canada]]

'''Topiary''' is the [[horticultural]] practice of training [[perennial plant]]s by clipping the [[foliage]] and [[twig]]s of [[tree]]s, [[shrub]]s and [[subshrub]]s to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes,<ref name=Coombs>{{Citation| last1 = Coombs| first1 =Duncan | last2 = Blackburne-Maze| first2 = Peter| last3 = Cracknell | first3 =Martyn| last4 = Bentley| first4 = Roger| title =The Complete Book of Pruning | publisher = Sterling Publishing Company| year =2001 | edition = illustrated| chapter =9| page =99| chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Le1pi3Vz31wC&q=topiary+is&pg=PA99| isbn = 978-1-84188-143-0}}</ref> whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. As an art form it is a type of [[living sculpture]]. The word derives from the [[Latin]] word for an ornamental [[landscape]] [[gardener]], ''topiarius'', a creator of ''topia'' or "places", a Greek word that Romans also applied to fictive indoor landscapes executed in [[fresco]].

The plants used in topiary are [[evergreen]], mostly [[woody plant|woody]], have small [[Leaf|leaves]] or [[Needle (botany)|needles]], produce dense foliage, and have compact or columnar (e.g., fastigiate) growth habits. Common species chosen for topiary include cultivars of European box (''[[Buxus sempervirens]]''), arborvitae (''[[Thuja]]'' species), [[bay laurel]] (''Laurus nobilis''), [[holly]] (''Ilex'' species), [[Myrtaceae|myrtle]] (''[[Eugenia]]'' or ''[[Myrtus]]'' species), yew (''[[Taxus]]'' species), and privet (''[[Ligustrum]]'' species).<ref>A list of common subjects, including the now rarely used ''[[Phillyrea]]'' common in 17th-century topiary, forms the second part of Miles Hadfield, ''Topiary and Ornamental Hedges'' (London) 1971.</ref> Shaped wire cages are sometimes employed in modern topiary to guide untutored shears, but traditional topiary depends on patience and a steady hand; small-leaved ivy can be used to cover a cage and give the look of topiary in a few months. The [[Hedge (barrier)|hedge]] is a simple form of topiary used to create boundaries, walls or screens.