Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-05-2015, 03:36 PM
 
Location: Florida
2,026 posts, read 2,745,953 times
Reputation: 1382

Advertisements

I saw a few front yards with pom-pom shaped small trees or bushes. These had multiple branches (or multiple specimen planted in the same spot) and at the end of each branch there was a green spherical canopy. The whole thing was like 4-5 feet tall. I have seen it a few times around the city of San Jose here in California.

My problem is I cannot find out what type of tree or bush it was, and I cannot find anything similar on websites like Lowe's with local stock/delivery. I was searching for bonsai trees, juniper trees and others. I saw it on a few eastern European websites (in languages that I don't understand), but nothing in local US/California-based shops.

The other thing is, the same tree type in image search looks very different. Do they cut the canopy into spheres, or it grows like this?
For example the one on this website looks like it, but if I search for the same name I get results of trees looking very different:

This:
Ponuka rastlín - LANTANA-záhrady - design a realizácia záhrad
versus this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Pinu...w=1252&bih=715
look different.


So what type of tree is it, or how do they make it look like this?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-05-2015, 03:40 PM
 
25,619 posts, read 36,505,929 times
Reputation: 23291
Take a picture of the plants and post them here. No doubt within a few hours they will be identified.

Another suggestion- search Pom Pom topiary in bing or google images.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-05-2015, 04:52 PM
 
Location: Florida
2,026 posts, read 2,745,953 times
Reputation: 1382
Thanks. This "Pom Pom topiary" gets me closer. In a google image search most results look like it.
I don't remember where I saw those, but I was driving through some neighborhoods long time ago.
Based on Wikipedia these are artificially modified. So if someone has it they have to actively re-shape it on a regular basis? how, and how often?
By the way, where do they sell these?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-05-2015, 04:57 PM
 
Location: NC
9,340 posts, read 13,922,544 times
Reputation: 20836
They do need maintenance, but the basic trimming and pruning that get them like this has already been done. Here is a link to one of these beauties:

Google Image Result for http://roccofischettinursery.com/images/Items/TOPIARY.JPG
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-05-2015, 04:58 PM
 
Location: Squirrel Hill PA
2,195 posts, read 2,571,043 times
Reputation: 4553
You need to contact a landscaper. Those trees are topiaries. They can be a variety of actual species but they are trained as they grow to take a certain branch shape and their greenery is trimmed into those balls. The trees will typically need to be groomed by a landscaper on a regular basis. I would think at least once a month.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-05-2015, 04:58 PM
 
Location: Home is Where You Park It
23,856 posts, read 13,613,397 times
Reputation: 15473
Usually, they are some kind of juniper or other small-leaved evergreen. Rarely, you might see a deciduous tree shaped like this, but they look pretty bad in winter.

They are pruned to look like this, and if the plant is naturally slow-growing, it isn't a very labor-intensive process - twice a year or so should do it. (And it matters what time of year you do it.) Any library will have a book on topiary and/or bonsai care, either of which will get you started on how to do it yourself, or on how to take care of one should you buy one.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2015, 09:30 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,096 posts, read 80,155,784 times
Reputation: 56911
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowfax View Post
You need to contact a landscaper. Those trees are topiaries. They can be a variety of actual species but they are trained as they grow to take a certain branch shape and their greenery is trimmed into those balls. The trees will typically need to be groomed by a landscaper on a regular basis. I would think at least once a month.
Yes, they are topiary, not bonsai. In fact, any bonsai enthusiast cringes at the thought of pompoms on a bonsai. Any good garden center will have several varieties, including junipers and pines, boxwood, myrtle, and ivy. Almost any evergreen tree or shrub can be made into a topiary.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-10-2015, 05:33 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
36,499 posts, read 53,783,841 times
Reputation: 47904
Topiary is usually used in very formal landscapes and IMHO looks kind of silly in the average homeowners landscape. They are very popular in European estates where they have staff to handle all gardening chores.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2015, 12:06 PM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,048 posts, read 23,865,015 times
Reputation: 10901
There's some folks just outside of Hilo that have a long hedge of some type, I'm guessing olive or mock orange or some such, that is trimmed into a line of animals of some type. Ducks, cats, dogs, etc., etc. Some years it's better than others, but it's been there for decades.

Some folks in our neighborhood have rosemary bushes they have trimmed into vertical pom poms, cylinders, cubes and other shapes. Mostly geometric and no animals.

Someone in the next town over has trimmed their hedge to look like a huge shark, although it sometimes seems to morph into a whale.

Pick a shrub and see what you can do with a pair of pruners then post pictures! We want to see your new creations.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2015, 12:56 PM
 
Location: McKinleyville, California
6,414 posts, read 10,449,378 times
Reputation: 4304
When we moved to our house in 2000, there was an existing hedge shaped to be a dragon, we found out in a short time that it was in violation of county codes for homes on corners not inforced by stop signs. To resolve the problem, I cut the hedge down over six hours with a set of hand hedge shears, some of my neighbors started referring to me as the dragonslayer and that is how I became The Dragonslayer and it is the name of my garden service. This uninforced intersection has had a bad reputation for accidents and in just 2 1/2 years of doing a study on the intersection for the feasable application of stop signs, we had 7 accidents and 6 were bicycle related due to an extension of the Pacific coastal trail system that intersects the road in front of my house. We got stop signs installed after the sixth bicyclist got hit by a car and I was able to regrow the dragon bush inside my fence line on the other side of our driveway, it took from 2006 to 2013 to get it to grow into the dragon hedge using privet cuttings I started back in 2000.
Attached Thumbnails
Pom-pom shaped small trees-dragon-hedge-2000-before-cut.jpg   Pom-pom shaped small trees-newdragonbush1.jpg  
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top