California Gardening: Wisteria and Topiaries, 1 by Loyd

Loyd wrote:
Hi Patty,

I haven't tried making a topiary using moss. I have seen some that look very nice. Maybe I'll try it sometime.

For topiaries in this climate I prefer to use Eugenia-Monterey Bay Brush Cherry. Your plant with white blooms might this. Does it have small smooth cherry like red berries? I have used rosemary plants, but after three or four years they seem to get some dead and bare areas. I have used Japanese box wood in cooler climates where it gets down below 20°.

A plant better than any of these is a Dwarf Myrtle-Compacta. It is small (2 to 3 ft. tall & wide), tightly branched, small leaves and white flowers. But it is slow growing and at my age I don’t want to wait more than five years to fill in. Your plant with white flowers might this.

The topiary of two geese has ivy which was repotted from another container into this hypertufa trough a few months ago. Since June there are a lot of new leaves and it should continue to fill in.

Loyd