Hedge Calligraphy

Getting hedges right is one of my current obsessions.  There are all kinds of beautiful things you can do with them; and the people responsible both for their design and maintenance are usually under a lot of pressure to do something else more important.

This is also a great example of what I mean by “site repair.”  I wish I had taken a before photo — I really need help with that — but this hedge originally made a closed loop, running along the edge of the brick patio.  Instead of removing it, we just opened it up, curling one of its ends in towards the wisteria.  It’s amazing what a difference this made to the entire garden, which went from feeling heavy and staid and pro forma to elegant and whimsical by that single gesture — or I think so anyway.