Topiary at The Walt Disney World Resort
Topiary gardening, the art of fashioning living plants into ornamental shapes, has been practised for centuries. Found throughout the gardens of the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort are hun-dreds of topiary figures, ranging from traditional hedges and sheared trees to fanciful shapes and a whole menagerie of landscaped Disney Characters. A podocarpus sea serpent guards the moat around Cinderella Castle; an arborvitae elephant along with an 'East Palatka' holly Brahman bull and a herd of other chlorophyll animals graze in fields of annuals at the Transportation and Ticket Center; and dancing hippo statues of yaupon holly greet visitors headed for the MAGIC KINGDOM Park.
Adding a new twist to the age-old practice of topiary gardening was Walt Disney's idea. Walt, who always had an eye for "show," felt he could enlarge on the topiary gardening techniques he had seen in Europe, so he combined the talents of his film animators with those of the
DISNEYLAND Landscaping Department. The result first appeared in Fantasyland at California's DISNEYLAND Park in 1963. The figures were later moved to their permanent location in the forecourt of "It's a Small World" in 1966.
That first menagerie of living sculptures at DISNEYLAND Park included many well-known Disney Characters (including DUMBO and the alligators and dancing hippos from Fantasia) and was the start of a tradition which is carried on here today in Florida. From the chiseled simplicity of the sheared oaks surrounding Spaceship Earth to the intricate detail of FIGMENT at Journey into Imagination, the art of topiary gardening "Disney Style" has since evolved to include a variety of plantings in all shapes and sizes.
At the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort, where more than 100 topiary figures are now on show, the process began three years before the 1971 opening and is still going on at the WALT DISNEY WORLD Nursery under the direction of Manager Roy Mecklenburg. A menagerie of camels, dancing elephants, trained seals, and giraffes as well as MICKEY MOUSE, MINNIE MOUSE, and DONALD DUCK fill giant redwood boxes at the nursery while awaiting removal to appro-priate locations across the resort. Fully grown, this zoo represents three to ten years of constant care by gardeners who clip and manicure plants into shapes they had never planned on assuming.
Artists from The Walt Disney Company design the animals or characters which are to become topiaries. From the artists' models and drawings, blueprints are made and full-size steel frames are built to guide the growth of the plant to match the design. Two different types of character topiary have developed out of our desire to put on a noteworthy horticultural show. Each utilizes a frame specially suited to its needs--a lightweight frame is used for shrub topiary, while sphagnum topiary require a much stronger frame specially designed to support the weight of the figure. Both types of topiary are produced "backstage" at the WALT DISNEY WORLD Nursery. SHRUB TOPIARY
Shrub topiary require from three to ten years to produce and are grown in large containers using a metal frame as a guide to assist with training and shaping. Our designers are very careful to see that the frames are large enough at their smallest points to allow for growth of the plant--usually no smaller than four inches in diameter. In addition to allowing room for growth, they must also keep in mind how the design will "read" once it grows in and is put on "show."
Shrubs that shear well, are naturally full, and are fairly fast-growing produce the best shrub topiary. Maintenance should also be taken into consideration when choosing plants, as too-fast a grower may require unreasonable care. Plants which are fairly young and are not too woody are most desirable. Older plants often have woody trunks that are difficult to hide. Younger plants tend to "break" (produce new vegetative growth in response to pruning and shaping) more readily and fill in quickly.
Some unusual effects can be achieved by combining two types of shrubs into a single figure. With some imaginative preplanning and some careful maintenance, we now have an Ilex vomitoria MARY POPPINS with a Pyracantha coccinea umbrella which blooms white in the spring and has red berries in the fall; a trained arborvitae seal tossing a pink azalea ball; a dexterous Ilex vomitoria elephant balancing on a striped beach ball of alternanthera; and green Ligustrum polar bear babies with a white Ligustrum 'Silver Star' mama.
The first step in the production of a shrub topiary is to fill the container with a soil mix that is well-drained and will provide support for even the largest of figures. Shrubs are planted at each place where the frame comes into contact with the soil. For example, a camel with four feet on the ground will have a plant in the center of each of the four legs, the longest and most appro-priately shaped one becoming the neck and head. On the other hand, if a hippopotamus is poised on one toe, the problem is intensified since all appendages must come from a single plant. After the shrubs are positioned and planted, the frame is placed over them and situated firmly in the soil, taking care that each plant remains at the proper level. They are then mulched with several inches of cypress mulch and watered in.
The production of shrub topiaries involves constant clipping, corrective pruning, tying, and weeding as well as regular irrigation and fertilization. In order for the plant to fill in the entire frame, it must be gently pulled, tied, and pruned to train it into the unusual pattern of growth which is needed to fill in ears, tails, umbrellas, wings, and so on. Once the figure has matured, pruning is done three inches from the frame. Corrective pruning involves removing unnecessary branches to prevent woody stems and trunks from showing through the frame and to remove girdling branches and roots. Shrub topiaries are clipped every week during the growing season and every two weeks during the remainder of the year. Care is taken to assure that the integrity of the original design is always maintained.
After the figures have filled in they are kept in shape with shears, hand clippers, or electric grass shears. It is important to be familiar with the plant material you are working with in order to know which method is best. For example, some materials will "brown out" if cut with electric shears while others show no browning at all.
The shrub topiaries in the "Chlorophyll Zoo" at the WALT DISNEY WORLD Nursery are grown in wood boxes with drop sides to simplify transplanting. When the figure is planted in the landscape, the sides of the box can be removed and the root ball is lowered into the hole with the bottom of the box still intact. Transplanting shock is thus minimized. Each box is fitted with drip irrigation and each figure is fertilized monthly with a fertilizer high in nitrogen to promote vegetative growth.
SPHAGNUM TOPIARY
For quick-growing figures, Roy and his crew use an entirely different technique. Sphagnum topiaries are grown using heavy steel frames stuffed with sphagnum moss and planting them with close-growing vine material. As the frames for these figures are their sole means of support, they must be carefully designed with the weight of the completed figure taken into consideration. Internal structural supports in these frames prohibit their use for shrub topiaries.
The steel frames of the sphagnum topiaries are wrapped with chicken wire and then stuffed with unmilled sphagnum moss. Small plants or "plugs" are then planted into the sphagnum. Creeping vines such as creeping fig (Ficus pumila) and English ivy may be used to provide a coat of green, with new growth carefully pinned to the sphagnum with fern pins. Bedding plants such as wax begonias or Alternanthera ficoidea may be used to create colorful floral topiaries.
Sphagnum topiaries require daily watering and respond well to frequent applications of fertilizer. Watering may be simplified by equipping figures with an internal drip irrigation system. Water soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer is applied using a hose-end proportioner three times a week. Constant trimming and pinning are necessary to shape the figure and to encourage dense growth and rapid coverage. With regular watering and fertilizing, a sphagnum topiary can be complete in three months or less.
Because the plants in these sphagnum figures are planted into the frame itself, they do not require any type of container--just a metal stand to keep them upright. Consequently, they are easily moved from one location to another and are adaptable for use as stage decorations or for special occasions.
The topiary figures have become so popular with Guests at the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort that they are almost an attraction in themselves, constantly being snapped by amateur and professional photographers alike. They provide a perfect addition to the gardens where cartoon characters come to life at the flick of an artist's brush or a gardener's shears.
TOPIARY FUN FACTS
There are over 120 shrub and 65 sphagnum character topiary throughout the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort as well as hundreds of geometric and free-form topiary shrubs and trees.
Pete's dragon, ELLIOT, is the largest shrub character topiary. Grown and trained for 10 years, this Podocarpus macrophyllus measures over 10 feet tall and 14 feet from head to tail.
PLANTS USED FOR TOPIARIES
Shrub Topiary
Buxus microphylla japonica: Japanese Boxwood - Small, round, compact, evergreen foliage
Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii': Burford Holly - Glossy leaves, dense evergreen, red berries
Ilex vomitoria: Yaupon Holly - Native Florida holly, excellent tight growth
Juniperus chinensis 'Sylvestris': Sylvester Juniper - Leaves needle- to scale-like, slightly stiff
Ligustrum japonicum: Japanese Privet - Evergreen; leaves 3-4", leathery, glossy
Podocarpus macrophyllus: Japanese Yew - Narrow dark evergreen spirally arranged
Pyracantha coccinea: Firethorn - Evergreen, white flowers, orange berries
Rhododendron cvs.: Azalea - Choose evergreen, compact varieties
Sphagnum Topiary
Alternanthera ficoidea: Joseph's Coat - Perennial, colorful foliage, frost sensitive
Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum: Wax Leaf Begonia - Succulent annual; broad, ovate foliage
Ficus pumila: Creeping Fig - Evergreen vine; small, heart-shaped leaves
Hedera helix: English Ivy - Evergreen vine; 5-lobed, 2-3" long leaves
I only have 2 Grandsons but I seem to be babysitting more and more each year! I'd also love to take a couple of classes especially one in Epcot. 
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