Boxwood? Make it look like a Wedding Cake for your Landscape Garden!

This nice round Boxwood came with the house, and we think it’s about 35 years old.  This area was a landscape garden with this tree, and mostly roses.  However, the Boxwood didn’t always look like a wedding cake, until one day Jeff had a bright idea!

He really wanted to make an impression with this tree, so he decided to make his little landscape garden tree look like a wedding cake.  At first he just trimmed it, and sometimes it turned out even, and then there were times when it was not so even.  I’m sure if you’ve tried making any type of tree formation you can relate to this experience.

Then one day I noticed that the Boxwood was looking much better, and was fairly even.  I commented that the  shrub was looking so much better than it used to, and found out the trimming secret.  I don’t know if anyone else has ever thought of this, but here’s how Jeff did it:

You’ll need a Garbage can, a 5-gallon bucket and a trimming device. 

To make the middle layer, put the garbage can upside-down over the top, so the top and middle layer are inside of the can.  (I wish I could show you a picture, but thiswas done a while ago). 

So, now you have the garbage can setting about halfway down on the Boxwood, and if the shrub is old enough and has lots of leaves, the entire top half of the shrub didn’t all fit in the garbage can, so there are lots of branches poking out around the can.  All you need to do now is cut off all of those branches that are hanging outside of the can, and trim the bottom even with the bottom of the can.  When you take the garbage can off, you’ll have a nice round middle.  The leaves may be a little loose at first, but they will grow in nicely, and it will be a beautiful new-looking addition to your landscaped garden.

Then, do the same thing with the top of the Boxwood, but use a 5-gallon bucket instead of a garbage can.  You’ll have to trim the bottom layer using your best judgment, but with the top two done, it should be much easier to get straight.

Boxwoods are fun little plants.  We have also tried to make animal shapes out of them, like you see at Disneyland, but we haven't found a way to perfect this yet, although I think you can buy the little wire shapes, we always like to find ways around having to buy too many tools, it's much more fun to be creative and make your own animals! While I don't know exactly where to buy the wire shapes, you might check out Main Street Supply for your Gardening Accessories.