What excites me about topiary is that London gardens are often small spaces. All plants are bursting with life and unless they are managed they will rapidly outgrow a garden. Clipping, pruning and shaping are essential but can be done with far more art and finesse than the dull, monotonous shrubs seen in too many properties.

This is part one of a two-part article on bonsai, and in a future blog I’ll be showcasing a broad range of other topiary, covering different shapes and sizes.

I believe in bonsai crafted to gloriously enhance the landscape rather than just producing functional form – it’s about taking a plant and creating something really special. Instead of a standard over-clipped ball of box, I'm looking for the character I can craft into a stunning stylised vision of something more natural.

I'm a great lover of the countryside and always looking at how plants form in the wild. I'm just back from the Isle of Bute in Scotland where coastal trees are sculpted and rounded, tilted and bent by the wind coming off the sea with twisted trunks and gnarly bark. This is where I draw my inspiration!

The Japanese have perfected a style of pruning bonsai called niwaki. They have mastered this art over thousands of years and it is a strong part of Japanese culture, just as they revere the art of calligraphy. Using niwaki on native tree species, selecting them specially for their natural twists and character and tending them for many years, they create unique plants that are really things of beauty. We can source them from Japan for our clients and what sets us apart is that our specialist clipping service has the niwaki skills to maintain and enhance the vision.

While the best Japanese niwaki are certainly expensive (£35,000 for a characterful 3m-tall pine, for example), there are more affordable options. We do many installations with faster-growing Carpinus betulus (deciduous hornbeam) clipped into bonsai-type shapes, and a plant I really love for its in-built natural character is Ulmus x hollandica 'Jacqueline Hillier’, an elm with a fabulous growth habit. Bendy, gnarly and twisty, when pruned by experts it looks wonderfully windblown and very attractive.

Talk to us about how we can help create an amazing space for you.

Call us on 0207 305 7183 or email at enquire@alasteranderson.com