topiary use in Italian gardens

Italian garden design has always adopted the use of art topiary to establish strong, evergreen structure in the Italian garden. Pruning plants into shapes was performed by the Romans and Greeks alike and the actual word topiary comes from the Greek words topeia (a rope used for tying and training), topos (landscape). From the origins of the Italian garden, Italian garden designers have shaped evergreen plants into both symmetrical, obtuse and representational forms to highlight entrances, underline geometrical features or to accentuate angles etc. In Roman times plants were formed into manmade forms in order to highlight and underline the Romans supposed control over nature.
Topiary use continued through the 16th and 17th Centuries across the whole of Europe, but it took a stronghold in Italy, France and Holland. Italian garden designers have always placed an emphasis on precision styling in all aspects of Italian design, but none more so than in Italian garden design, as this perfectly addresses the Italians need for sharp lines and clean styling. Excellent examples of topiary in Italian gardens can be found at gardens like La Bagnaia, Villa Gamberaia or Boboli.
There are various plants that are adapted to being pruned into shapes that otherwise would not be present in the natural world. Plants like Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), Yew (Taxus baccata), Holm oak (Quercus ilex) and Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) have been among the most favoured plants since Roman times. These plants can withstand constant pruning, provide a smooth finish and form a healthy evergreen structure that can easily be shaped into square hedges, spheres and even triangles.
To form good topiary the topiary plant needs to have a naturally dense growth habit that reacts well to annual pruning, with a good disease resistance. A topiary plant also has to be long lived, in order to provide a strong structure that will last for many years. The plants mentioned above are particularly slow-growing and there are faster growing alternatives, such as certain privet species. However a plant like privet requires more pruning due to its speedy growth habit and the finished effect can appear somewhat cheaper, rendering the garden less elegant as a result.
Contemporary Italian garden design still adopts the use of topiary in this age of fusion design and I feel that topiary is fundamental for linking areas within a garden design and it is vital for adding a touch of elegance and class. Topiary clearly represents mans intervention, as without mans hand such shapes could not exist, therefore certain areas suit its use and certain areas do not. Areas closer to the house and living space generally lend themselves well to the use of topiary, as the presence of man is felt more in such areas. Areas near the house often continue the architecture of the house into the garden and therefore clearly suit a more formal and elegant feel.
Topiary, in the form of formal hedging, is essential in establishing the feel of a classic Italian garden and even contemporary Italian garden design should certainly still adopt the use of some form of topiary to provide structure. Formal hedging and topiary in general can be considered as important to the landscape architect as walls are to a standard architect or engineer. They provide the basis upon which the rest of the garden can be designed and constructed, so are therefore indispensable when creating an Italian style garden!