In historic gardens in particular, you will find trees that have been cut into shapes, mostly coniferous trees that reproduce geometric or fantasy figures, even living sculptures. You can do this yourself at home - and it is best to start with a simple ball or another round shape for practice.
Box trees in particular like to be cut round
Various round shapes
Pruning-compatible species such as yew or boxwood are best brought into the desired shape. But thuja (occidental tree of life), false cypress, Leyland cypress or privet are also suitable.
- Ball: simple, evenly round ball of boxwood, yew or privet, with no visible trunk
- Ball on stem: Here the ball is on a stem without any side shoots.
- Multiple Sphere: Here there are several spheres one above the other on a stem, without any side shoots. Clearly visible trunk
- Pompon: A multi-branched tree or shrub has several "crowns" cut into balls.
- Teardrop: The teardrop shape is broad and round at the bottom and gets narrower and narrower towards the top until it finally ends in a point, no visible stem
- Beehive: The beehive is cylindrical and wide at the bottom, tapers only slightly towards the top and finally ends in a rounded shape, no visible trunk
For the round shapes with a visible trunk, you should use softwoods such as juniper, false cypress or Leyland cypress.
Cut a ball - Here's how
Stable balls that do not fall apart so quickly can be obtained by raising young plants at an early stage. You should already cut these to size as container plants and only then plant them out. In this way, the bushes will branch out vigorously and stay in shape. However, bushes that are less branched and cut into a ball tend to fall apart later - for example, as a result of a snow load. The education to the ball takes about two to three years and requires a regular correction cut.
cutting guide
- Choose a young plant that is already slightly plump, such as a boxwood.
- Now cut away the side shoots at the base so that there is a more or less round shape.
- In a second step, limit the height.
- To do this, cut a round dome.
- In a third step, shape the sides in the upper area by cutting away the side shoots that grow upwards in a round arc.
- Finally, the side faces are cut to shape, creating a beautiful, spherical shape.
Cutting an exact spherical shape takes some practice. Some find it easier to create an egg or teardrop shape at first.
tips
It is even easier to shape the wood into a rectangular box shape. To do this, tie several bamboo sticks together to form a temporary template.