A creative approach to ornamental pruning that appeals to modern sensibilities.
Book Preview
enlarge
Nothing brings a touch of artistry to the garden like ornamental pruning and a series of deliberate cuts can create landscapes and evoke faraway places. All that's needed to recreate the effect in the garden are a sharp pair of pruners, some imagination and the instruction found in The Art of Creative Pruning. Drawing on both eastern and western styles, author Jake Hobson moves beyond the traditional lollipops and animals and teaches a wholly new approach to ornamental pruning that appeals to modern sensibilities. Picture boxwoods trimmed into whimsical Russian nesting dolls, hedges inscribed with words and a tree snipped to resemble the toppling tiers of a wedding cake. These are just a few of the unusual ideas featured in the beautifully photographed pages. All the practical considerations are here as well, including pruning to improve a view, remedial pruning to fix problems and pruning fruit trees to increase yield.
Media Reviews
... this new book is full of great photographs of real-life European examples, together with how-to-grow-your-own diagrams and text. ... Time to get out there and spice up your garden!
Garden Illustrated's 10 favourite books of 2011:
Unexpectedly entertaining... with at times jaw-dropping examples... the book is full of down-to-earth practical advice, with clear diagrams.
Featured as a top Christmas title:
There's plenty of help on pollards, espaliers, and cloud pruning, but he's especially good on the rollicking, humpy-bumpy Benny Hill masses of clipped box and yew that is so fashionable now.
Jake Hobson assesses the range of options open to the ‘creative pruner' with an infectious enthusiasm [...] a handbook to inspire creativity whether in a new or an established garden [...] the ideas detailed in this book could be transposed to create something just that little bit special.
Well-clipped topiary comes into its own in winter and adds great style. Jake Hobson who worked at a Japanese nursery in Osaka, shows us how to cut an ordinary tree into a cloud-cut wonder. He also tackles thinning in this unique book - among many other things.
Decorative tree pruning can bring innovation and artistry to gardens, and this hardback has something for all tastes... This book's spectacular photos and well-illustrated, step-by-step projects will have you reaching for your secateurs.
This is an unexpectedly entertaining book about the art of training and shaping trees and shrubs to add form and drama to the garden. What could have been quite a dull and repetitive subject is given pace and light by Jake Hobson's engaging prose and his expert knowledge of the subject [...] This book is a mixture of the inspirational and the practical, with at times jaw-dropping examples of just how far the art of topiary can go... it is clear that the only limit to what can be achieved is the imagination of the person wielding the clippers.
...full of pictures of greenery that is quite arresting, sometimes hilarious and odd, but always evocative and likely to draw opinion... This book is fascinating, something different, and very interesting.
Hobson's book is remarkable, providing both inspiration as well as practical advice on a vast array of pruning styles & techniques from around the world, for an assortment of tree and hedge plant varieties. [...] Detailed explanations and diagrams ensure that all forementioned techniques can be applied to any garden, either in their true form or 'applied' to local surroundings.
The Art of Creative Pruning is full of fab photos and detailed instructions on how to tackle all sorts of severe horticultural reshaping.
Jake Hobson outlines an approach that is more creative than traditional topiary and positively encourages out-of-the-box thinking. [...] Innovatively photographed works in formal gardens around the world are presented here alongside well illustrated step-by-step projects.
