The Art of Creative Pruning
Living quite close to the wonderful Levens Hall in Cumbria it might seem very insular if I confessed that I have not really paid much attention to creative pruning in the past. It might be fairer to say that I have not perhaps appreciated what a creative person with a good pair of clippers can achieve on what would otherwise be a boring and quite ordinary piece of box.
I think it was Tom Stuart-Smith who first awakened in me the realisation that box and hedging could be fun and what is more soothingly decorative – for example his 2010 Chelsea garden arranged established box balls into a shape giving the impression that they were much older and mature – delightful.
Jake Hobson’s 'The Art of Creative Pruning' provides everything one might need to start being creative with topiary and shaping. This is not a text book about pruning – rather it is one that explores the creative side of what is definitely an art and allows you to make something out of nothing. The book is also fun – he showcases lively and artfully clipped plants with a strong emphasis on freeform and naturalistic pruning that blends seamlessly into their surroundings.
The book also takes us on a world tour of topiary – a fact in itself which I found entertaining and quite instructive. The book is worthy of its place on the bookshelf for the enjoyment of the photographs themselves – so many ideas for creative tree pruning are illustrated that you start itching to get out the clippers and have a go yourself.
The author’s enthusiasm is infectious and his east-meets-west topiary is compelling. Most of us might shy away from attacking a mature hedge or plant to achieve a desired shape, however, Hobson’s book gives the confidence to "Clip hard, be brave and learn from your mistakes."
The book is illustrated with excellent photographs taken in some of the world’s most inventive gardens and we are presented with all sorts of shapes from spirals and box balls to cloud pruning and pollarding.
There are clear easy to follow diagrams for the wide variety of pruning tasks and plenty of inspirational examples to set us thinking outside the 'box' enabling us to prune trees to reflect the wider landscape giving an interesting shape whatever the season.
'The Art of Creative Pruning' by Jake Hobson is published by Timber Press – www.timberpress.co.uk - and is priced at £25.00 (UK) and $34.95 (US). Check out the Reckless Gardener shop to order your copy from Amazon.
