The societal changes which brought an end to the norm of low cost and even free labor brought with them an end to the feasibility of keeping such gardens except in some publicly funded parks.

You can add a measure of this old garden art form to your home and garden today. With new products preformed into shapes for stuffing and planting, all sorts of fun shapes and representative forms can be success-fully created by the home gardener.

In addition to wire forms which can be purchased, gardeners can tie shapely sticks from trees and shrubs and use them in potted topiaries of their own imagination.

Outdoor shrubbery can be easily trim-med into simple forms with a little practice and the right shrub species planting.

Whether you buy a single potted standard herb for your windowsill, grow your own potted forms, or go all out in the creation of a fantasy yard creation, topiary can add a new dimension to your gardening fun.

Try a project this summer!

Espalier is a technique of forcing the growth of woody plants, trees, and shrubs into a single plane in some sort of a lattice pattern.

In Europe, the technique of espalier has been used in growing fruit trees for cen-turies. Orleans, France has extensive areas still covered with pear and apple orchards grown in espalier. As with large scale topiary gardens, labor costs have led to the end of this type of growing on a wide spread basis. With the advent of dwarf fruit trees came the end to commercial espalier, as its original development was to aid in the harvesting of fruit through controlled growth of the trees.

Ornamental espalier is enjoying a renewed popularity in the U.S. Along with apples, peaches and pears, other plant materials are used:

An excellent choice for an indoor subject would be Fig (Ficus carica).

To begin an espalier, choose a site next to a wall, fence or other structure appropriate for growing the subject against. Prepare the soil and mulch the area as with any other planting. Choose a young, pliable plant which can be more easily formed and tied into desired positions.

Draw the pattern you wish to grow, and keep that drawing in a safe place where it can be brought out for periodic prunings and ties. Once the plant has been put in the ground, begin pruning back branches which do not fit the desired pattern, and keep those shoots which will attain the necessary height and length eventually. Tie branches loosely with string or rubber bands to allow for growth and to prevent damage to their surfaces.

Prune as needed, and enjoy for years to come.

When planning an outdoor shrubbery for topiary, it is important first to choose a plant which will survive in the area you wish to have the sculpture in your landscape. Because of the time involved in forming the shape, it's no fun to have a leg or have a triangle die off on a portion of your shrubbery! Look at the soil type, moisture content and lighting.

Based on your site requirements, choose a shrub that also grows in habit similar to the form you wish to create. If your form is a low running dog, then a low growing shrub is needed. By the same token, a columnar shrub is required when sculpting a giraffe.

Large leafed plants do not show the form of the sculpture well, and so should be avoided.

Wire forms and chicken wire can be used to shape shrubs into the desired forms, but be careful to use soft ties, and return often to loosen the ties as the shrub grows to prevent damage to carefully formed branches.

Ivy or wintercreeper are viable alternatives to shrubbery when creating topiaries.