You can usually rescue tired topiary. A living plant that has lost its shape can almost always be brought back, slowly. A mossed piece that has gone bald is a repacking job rather than a loss. And a faded sculpture is generally a re-covering, because the steel underneath does not wear out at the same rate as the surface.
A rearing cat and three cubs on a lawn, each on its own base plate. The frame under a tired piece is usually the part still worth having.
A living topiary that has lost its shape
Cut in two stages, leaving one season between cuts. Boxwood regrows from old wood, but slowly. Cutting straight back to your final outline exposes large areas of bare stem that stay bare for a long time.
In the first year, cut back to a little outside the shape you eventually want, and remove any dead or crossing wood from the interior so light and air reach it. Feed in early spring. In the second year, once the plant has responded, take it the rest of the way.
Cut in late spring, after the first flush firms, and not in winter. The general rules are in what a live boxwood costs to keep.
When a living piece is genuinely gone
A long-dead centre or root problems usually mean you cannot rescue the plant.
A dead centre with only an outer shell of foliage. If the interior is bare wood with no live growth at all, and the plant has been like that for years, cutting into it exposes something that may not come back.
Root problems. A plant that is thin and pale across the whole of itself, particularly in soil that never dries, is usually a root story rather than a pruning one. No amount of shaping fixes it.
Disease is a separate question and often treatable. The field guide covers identification.
A mossed piece that has gone thin
This is the most recoverable of all, and the one people most often throw away.
Check the frame first, for rust at the joints and for distortion. On a galvanised frame it is usually sound. The moss at the surface has weathered while the core has stayed firm, so work fresh sphagnum into the existing packing rather than starting again.
Mist the new moss until it is pliable. Press it into the frame in small sections, working from the bottom up, and secure it with floral wire or twine.
If the piece has gone badly, strip it and repack it. That is a day’s work and a few bags of moss against the cost of a new piece. The frame is the expensive part, and it is the bit you are keeping.
How a mossed animal is made and kept sets out the method, and which moss for which job covers what to buy.
Quoted. Refurbishment: the frame is usually sound.
$155. Woodland moss, for re-mossing a thinned frame.
$525. Sphagnum, 46 lb, for a full repack.
A faded artificial or turf piece
Fading cannot be reversed. You can re-cover a piece built on a galvanised steel armature because the frame outlives the surface. You generally cannot re-cover a piece built on a foam core. So ask “what is under this” before you buy, rather than years later.
Send a photograph and the approximate age. We will tell you which of the two you have, and whether re-covering is worth it against replacement.
Refurbishment, as a service
We refurbish tired pieces, including ones we did not make. The frame under a sculpture or a mossed animal is usually the part still worth having, and re-covering costs a fraction of building again from a drawing.
Send a photograph from two or three angles, the approximate height, and what it is covered in now. We will tell you honestly whether your piece is worth saving, including when it is not.
Read how a commission works if your piece turns out to be beyond rescue.
Questions we get asked
Can an overgrown boxwood topiary be brought back?
Usually, over two seasons. In the first year, cut to a little outside the shape you want and clear the dead wood from the interior. Take it the rest of the way once it has responded. Cutting it all back at once risks bare stem that stays bare.
How hard can I cut boxwood back?
Boxwood regenerates from old wood, which is what makes recovery possible, but it does it slowly. Staged cuts over two years give a far better result than one hard cut.
My mossed animal has gone bald. Is it finished?
Almost certainly not. Check the frame for rust at the joints and distortion; on a galvanised frame it is usually sound, and so is the core packing. Work fresh sphagnum in from the bottom up, secured with wire. A full strip and repack is a day’s work and a few bags of moss against the cost of a new piece.
Can a faded sculpture be re-covered?
Yes, if it is built on a galvanised steel armature, because the frame outlives the surface. A foam-cored piece generally cannot be re-covered, so check what is underneath before you buy.
Do you refurbish pieces you did not make?
Yes. Send photographs from two or three angles, the approximate height and what it is covered in, and we will give you an honest answer, including when it is not worth saving.
