Melbourne Topiary
Don visited the gardens of two expert topiarists, John Mircello and Peter Nguyen.
John’s Italian background is evident when you look at his beautiful garden. He has been topiarising plants for around ten years, and spends much of his spare time clipping box, pencil pines (Cupressus sempervirens ‘Swane’s Gold’), lilly pillies and other plants into different shapes. He has more than 150 topiaries, including a duck, a dog, a kangaroo and a giraffe. John swaps advice and tips with his friend and fellow topiary enthusiast, Peter Nguyen, who lives nearby. Peter and his wife came to Melbourne from Vietnam in 1981. He finds topiary an excellent way to relieve stress, and has been working at it for five years now. His garden features a magnificent eagle with outstretched wings, two giraffes, two peacocks, a kangaroo, a reindeer and a bear. He also trims the plants into various other shapes including balls on sticks and spirals.
Tips
Peter and John recommend Wolf electric shears for anyone interested in having a go at topiary. John finds that if he does a lot of pruning using hand shears his hands and arms get sore. Don says that with topiary, as with many other garden styles, excess is best. If you think three topiarised plants look great in the garden, fifty will look even better!
Further information
John and Peter both use a Wolf GH60W electric shear. It weighs less than 2kg, and has a battery life of one hour. It takes 24 hours to recharge. Price: $180.
Wolf is carried by over 300 outlets nationwide, mostly specialist lawnmower shops and nurseries. Ring 1800 628-099 for your nearest stockist.