As we continue to look at boxwood hedges, we will see more and more how they can be used to create beautiful pieces of art in lawns, entryways, and large gardens. Many famous landscape designers from throughout the world, especially Europe, have been able to craft marvelous masterpieces and made way for many of our design techniques as a company today. Throughout history, authentic boxwood foliage has been shaped to create spectacles for royalty to look upon, and as time has passed, more and more people have been able to enjoy it. In this entry, we will look at different gardens and famous attractions that use boxwood foliage, and then explain how you can create the same design with artificial boxwood hedges. This will be both a learning experience in terms of history, and in terms of understanding how artificial foliage can be beneficial when creating a landscape work of art.
1. Belgian Gardens
This Belgian garden was done by the hands of a famous artist, Jacques Wirtz, a well-known name in European society and all landscapers alike. His design firm has been in business since 1950, and they have grown their reputation to that of none other in the Belgian area. His two sons now manage the firm, but he is still a very integral part of the operation. They use extreme detail when choosing their plants for design, and the pruning/grooming process is a long drawn-out ordeal to ensure absolute perfection. As you can see in the photo above, he is truly one of a kind when it comes to landscape design. These hedges are defined as “cloud forms” because of the way they billow out and are round like what you may see in the sky. Some may think it would be an easy task making spherical shapes out of boxwood, but that is far from the truth. One project done by Jacques Wirtz and his firm took almost 40 years and is his most famous one to date, the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. These authentic boxwood hedges are created into beautiful works of art, but they do not have to be limited to just the real thing. As we will explain later in the blog, artificial boxwood hedges can be crafted in the exact same way with many extra benefits on top of it.
2. Beckley Park
Beckley Park is one of the more famous sites that features a wide array of different hedge sculptures since it’s inception in 1540. Located in England it has been a spectacle for people to visit and admire the landscaping that has been maintained for hundreds of years. Inside the fort, you will find all assortments of different boxwood hedges formed into any shape you can imagine. Reflecting back to previous blog entries about how boxwood foliage is a great tool for photos and celebrity events, Beckley Park is known for being mainly used as a film location and for fashion photography. An interesting note, one of the Harry Potter movies used this location as an opening scene! The amount of detail and work that still goes on to maintain this landscape is astounding and can only be that much harder with real boxwood foliage. There are numerous amounts of varying shapes and animals made into boxwood hedges, and that uniqueness makes Beckley Place a considerable attraction. We will see later how this can all be done a lot simpler and easier artificial boxwood foliage, but let us first take a look into one more unique garden and how they have utilized hedges.
3. Fingask Castle
This enchanted garden is located in Scotland and is one of the most exciting landscape pieces in the world. The original castle itself was built in 1952, and since then it has been added to create the masterpiece it is today consistently. Referring only to the picture, it is clear to see why this location is a prime spot for people to get photos taken from weddings to prom. The topiaries you see in the picture are actually made of foliage we have not discussed in the blog, yew. Yew trees hail from all different parts of the world but are more commonly found in European countries. Looking at the design of the yew topiaries themselves, you can see it is more abstract negating defined lines, and that plays well with the rugged landscape that Scotland has. If you were to look at the rest of the garden, you would see a variety of topiaries made from other foliages like holly and boxwood. There are rose gardens that are surrounded by these unique designs and overall, it truly is an enchanting landscape design with a lot of artistic touches thrown in throughout the years.
All the above examples featured live foliage and living plants, which during those times was all that was available. With modern technology, we at Plantscape Commercial Silk have developed an everlasting product that is just as real and even better than what is considered authentic. You can shape our product to be the exact shapes as shown above, or create something new and contemporary to go along with the current aesthetic. Even though it is dated as far as the 1500s, boxwood hedges are still as classy as ever. Our fake hedge wall will provide the same amount of class without requiring the regular maintenance and care that goes into live plants. We also have unique formulas that we can add to the outer leaves of your product to make it last in the weather, and make it more resistant to fires. With more and more people looking to save on costs pertaining to water and cut back on energy usage, artificial foliage is becoming more and more the trend. As we move into a world that is more conscious of sustainability, it is important to note these new technologies and try to use them as much as possible. As said before, everything seen above can be used just as effectively and even more effectively with faux boxwood foliage. Get in touch with us today to talk to one of our highly skilled project managers.
