Green Animals Topiary Gardens, Portsmouth, RI June 2012

11 years ago

Today we took a day trip to Portsmouth, RI to visit the Green Animals Topiary Gardens. The gardens can be included as part of the Newport Mansions Tour. However we visited as part of our reciprocal membership program due to our membership at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens.

Due to the name "Green Animals" - I think I was expecting a vast expanse of lawn with random animal shaped bushes placed troughtout. I was pleasantly surprised to see a series of formal gardens with many types of topiary - not just animals. As well as many types of plants - annuals, perennial, vegetables. Though the gardens were all inspiring (what I could do with 7 acres of sun!), I was most impressed with the topiaries. Not just the animals - but all the shapes.

The driveway was lined with topiary arches

There is rebar arches that the boxwood grows over.

Another garden arch

All the garden beds were lined with boxwood borders. Some were already shaped into linear forms, whereas others were still growing. (Isn't that an amazing displat of blue and white perennial salvia?)

Even this vine was being trained to grow over a heart shaped trellis. Look closely, you can see the heart.

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Comments (5)

pixie_lou
Original Author
11 years ago
There were many other topiary shapes. The planters on the porch of the house have topiaries in them.

And there were some really cool topiary planters.

There was a cool spiral tree

Interesting shapes

A cool arm chair - good thing they had the "Do Not Touch" sign, since I was tempted to sit in this one!

Shapes that I had no idea what they were!

They even had topiary curtains in the ladies room!
pixie_lou
Original Author
11 years ago
By far, the topiary animals were the coolest.

Gorilla

The original animals included the giraffe and elephant.

Giraffe

Elephant

Reindeer

Close up of reindeer antlers

Unicorn

Close up of Unicorn "horn"

Rooster

Man on a horse

Peacock

Cat
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pixie_lou
Original Author
11 years ago
In the unicorn photo, you probably noticed the topiary artist working on the teddy bears. Most of the topiaries are made of boxwood, and must be trimmed every 3 weeks. Some are made of yew, such as these teddy bears - the yews only need be trimmed twice a year. I read somewhere that you cannot trim more than an inch at once. The topieary artist told me that he is trimming something every single day!

Down on the lawn, on the way to the beach, it is a big expanse of lawn with 3 random topiaries. None are labeled, and they are not mentioned at all on the guide map handed out at the visitors center.

Lastly - in the gardens, they have a Japanese Bitterorange tree - which apparently is hardy to Zone 5!
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
11 years ago
My mind is boggled! Those topiaries are stunning and definitely decorative, if that's your taste. Should you fill in your pond and cut down all your trees to create your own topiary zoo? My boggled mind says BLECH! but I'm the wrong person to ask since I can barely prune a shrub unless it's in dire straits.

Maybe a topiary turtle or bullfrog down by the pond....

Claire
pixie_lou
Original Author
11 years ago
Claire - visiting herereally made me think of the concept of the "blank slate". I've always thought that my property was a blank slate when I bought it - since there was nary a flower blooming. But it wasn't a blank slate in terms of landscaping - the house was already sited here, as was the pond, driveway, garage, septic system, and tons of large mature trees. So as I have attempted to garden, I must do so within these constraints.

So I really started thinking about what I would do if I truly had a blank slate. If I was handed 7 acres of open land, and I could decide on my own where to situate everything - house, trees, gardens, etc.

There was just something about this place - I guess because it is so "different". I was really in awe. I guess it also "spoke" to me - just in terms of that dichotomy of these formal linear gardens, interspersed with whimsical topiary animals. So often I visit a garden and I come home with 1 or 2 good ideas - usually in terms of how to pair plants together. But this place - I just got this whole sense of wow - who ever came up with the vision of this formal whimsical topiary garden. And I really started thinking of the what ifs - if I truly had a blank slate, would I want to create a zoo of bushes?