The Art of Niwaki and Topiary

Beautiful topiary, the kind you see as features of great gardens and landscapes especially in the Italian gardens can look amazing sculptures in all sizes, we feature a number of shapes, sizes in Box, Yew, Olive, Hornbeam and Beech to name just a few of the topiary trees.

You will find fresh inspiration as well as popular spirals, cones, parachutes, cylinders, cubes, pyramids and balls on the nursery in a range of sizes and species. We also have trees pruned using the Japanese art of Niwaki, we call these cloud pruned trees and like the topiary these stunning creations are art forms and act as sculptures for your garden, we have probably the largest  range of these in Ireland in our Nursery park in a wide range of sizes, styles, shapes and materials.

Niwaki principles, literally meaning ‘garden tree’ – being distinct from ‘Bonsai’ meaning ‘potted tree’. Niwaki are the bigger, easy ones that go in the ground. Bonsai are the little, difficult ones that stay in pots.  As these are one offs we don’t have all of them on the website but we do have a good deal of them so take a look but it is  worth a call to us if you are interested in Niwaki Specimens as you will see and appreciate the work that has gone into each specimen.

We do have a range of smaller options too and we always carry a good number of examples of the Topiary and Niwaki, here are just a few

Ilex Crenata, or Japanese Holly, is an evergreen shrub native to east China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and a popular bonsai species. It is very suitable for shaping dense hedges and is sometimes mistaken for boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). It’s small green leaves produce tiny white flowers and small black shiny fruits. However, fruits will only develop if there are female and male trees near to each other and flowering at the same time.

Carpinus Betulus Bonsai Form
A member of the Beech family of trees, the European hornbeam has densely textured foliage, and a slate and smooth looking grey bark. The dark green leaves turn an attractive yellow in the Autumn, and the bark and buds are ornamental in winter. Lots of these shaped Specimen Bonsai are available to view in our Nursery Park.

Osmanthus Ilicifolius (Heterophyllus) bonsai
Osmanthus is one of our favourite plants with large holly like green leaves and unmissable branches laden with scented white flowers through Autumn and Winter. These have been shaped into a topiary / bonsai form.

Taxus Baccata Semperaurea
Golden Yew Bonsai form, stunning in a raised bed as a feature tree. This low maintenance, slow growing and well behaved evergreen shrub, is ideal for adding structure to the garden.

Juniper X Media Pfitzeriana
This is a beautifully shaped, windswept bonsai tree. This popular and vigorous variety is ideal for the larger garden. Very hardy and will withstand hard pruning.

Olea Europea
The Olive Tree is a hugely popular tree here but we still think of it as a Mediterranean tree which gives it a slightly exotic feel and with its stunning silver grey foliage and gnarled bark on its older specimens it creates real focal points in our usual darker green gardens.

These beautiful trees come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, some are single stemmed with nice loose heads and some have more clipped forms with multiple stems others and large mature specimens with trunks that you would struggle to get your arms around with the quirkiest of foliage – such a stunning individual tree.

If you fancy trying your hand at Niwaki or just pruning the trees you have, patience and the right tools is what you need and here is the best place to get them from Niwaki.com