Katie Rushworth’s Alternative Topiary Balls
Structure and form are key components in a garden that needs to look good all year round.
We have given the humble hanging basket a 21st century makeover and created some alterative topiary using low maintenance, tough as old boots, Sedums and Sempervirens.
Here’s Katie Rushworth’s guide on how to plant these eye catching topiary balls:
1. Take two hanging baskets and line them using wet sphagnum moss that has had most of the water squeezed out of it
2. Start to press the moss between the wires of the basket, starting at the bottom and working your way towards the top. I find this a little easier to do if I create moss-shaped patties approximately the size of your palm
3. Push a few plants through the moss at the bottom of one of the baskets, this will be the top of your topiary. Then, as you build the moss around the sides, add more plants and fill with soil as you go
4. With both baskets complete, secure a sturdy piece of cardboard the same diameter as your basket on top of the soil in the basket that will be the top half of your topiary ball – pushing a few nails through the cardboard and into the soil should do the trick
5. Now simply flip that basket upside down, fingers crossed the cardboard will hold the soil in place, and place it on top of your other completed basket. Fasten the two together with cable ties at several points where the baskets meet
6. Now it’s ready to hang if you wish, or attach to a post and place in and amongst your borders.
Sedums and Sempervirens will cope with some shade and require very little maintenance, just watering them a couple of times a month should be enough to keep them happy.
