The Topiary Gardens at Levens Hall

No artistic study of Levens Hall would be complete without an in-depth exploration of the incredible Topiary Gardens! Comprising over 100 different designs, the hedges, mostly different species of Box and Yew, are trained and clipped into a breath-taking array of living sculptures. Some abstract, some geometric, and some are recognisable shapes such as chess pieces and umbrellas.

An army of gardeners… some volunteers… are recruited at Levens Hall for the season.

This is the oldest and largest topiary in the world and I enjoyed the chance to study some of the incredible forms and the way they interact with the old building. I couldn’t resist speculating on some of the ways the gardeners might keep the hedges looking neat and tidy… I wondered how do they really do it?!