Most topiary decisions start with a shape, not a plant. This guide runs through the shapes we make and sell every week, what each one is for, and where to find it in the catalogue — whether you want it live, preserved or artificial.
Ball
The workhorse. A single sphere reads as calm and finished anywhere; pairs frame a door; a ball-on-stem adds height without bulk. Balls are also the most forgiving shape to keep crisp. Shop live boxwood balls or artificial topiary balls from 6 to 42 inches.
Double and triple ball
Stacked spheres on one stem — tiered, architectural, and the classic flanking piece for an entrance. The stacked geometry draws the eye up, so they suit spaces that need height. See the preserved collection for single, double and triple ball forms.
Cone
Rounded at the base, tapering to a point: the formal-garden staple. Easy to place, easy to maintain, and the natural companion to a front porch or a symmetrical bed. Live cones up to 42 inches ship UPS; taller ones travel by freight.
Spiral
A true spiral is cut by hand into the plant, not trained around a pole, and it takes years of shaping before it ever reaches a customer. It is the statement shape: one beside a door changes the whole entrance. Shop live boxwood spirals up to nine feet.
Pom pom (poodle)
Two or three clipped globes spaced along a bare stem. Playful but still formal, and the best shape for adding rhythm to a run of planters. See pom pom topiary.
Pyramid and cube
Sharper-edged than the cone, these suit modern architecture and clipped parterres. Most of ours are made to order in artificial foliage so the edges stay perfect — ask through custom fabrication.
Hedge and screen
Topiary at architectural scale: walls, screens and shapes built to your dimensions. See hedges & custom shapes.
Animal shapes
The shapes people remember. Dogs, rabbits, elephants, dinosaurs and most other creatures, as wire frames to plant, mossed pieces ready to display, or lit versions for the season. Start with the animal collection or read how an animal topiary is made.
Letters, logos and abstract forms
If it can be drawn, it can be welded and covered — words, brand marks, and one-off sculptural forms. That work goes through design and fabrication, where we CAD the shape before any steel is bent.
Choosing between them
Formal entrance: balls, cones or spirals in pairs. Rhythm along a path: pom poms. Presence in a lobby or lawn: an animal or a custom form. Whatever the shape, the material question — live, preserved or artificial — is its own decision, and this comparison settles it honestly. And if you are new to the art itself, start with topiary gardening.
