Precisely trimmed edges are perfect for those who love order

Snip, snip, snip — some people find snipping the shrubbery tedious beyond tolerance, and others find it a most relaxing pursuit on a Saturday afternoon.

But no matter how you feel about the hedges, these carefully clipped shrubs are the botanical equivalent of the well-groomed poodle: tidy, pretty, but most of all, about control.

There is a certain serenity that settles in our biosphere when every leaf is perfect. It’s a look we haven’t stopped seeking since 350 B.C., when Alexander the Great drove his army into Persia and witnessed what a garden was.

The Greeks passed the clipped concept to the Italians. The French picked it up from there, and the Dutch took it to extremes before a softer version of trimmed and tidy made its way to England and America.

When the subject is hedges, every conceivable pattern is possible if the right plants are used. Slow-growing boxwood is the plant of choice. In fact, some gardeners and horticulturists are so passionate about it, they formed a worldwide society devoted to all things boxwood at www.boxwoodandtopiary.org.

As history might suggest, it doesn’t take any particular knowledge or skill to grow a carefully clipped hedge. Anyone who plants the plants right side up and begins clipping in their second year can express their creative bent with pruners and carve their vision of a better garden.

Here are some choices:
Low plants
*Berberis: with deep burgundy foliage and slow growth, a good hedge material if you don’t mind thorns.
*Boxwood: can be clipped into highly detailed shapes without looking woody from the inside.
*Eugenia: offers a variegated cream and green version of a hedge that is usually planted in front of boxwood for contrast.

Medium plants
*Eugenia: can be suitable for topiary when tall. It grows a bit faster than boxwood, so expect to clip it more often.
*Ilex: very fine hedge material. Usually the slower a plant grows, the pricier it is. Ilex is no exception.
*Pittosporum: has many shapes and forms to provide a range of clipping possibilities from tight hedges to small trees.
*Rhaphiolepis: not a first choice for hedge material because it is too woody inside, yet it’s strangely popular with landscapers.
*Westringia: can provide a pretty, puffy cloud of gray if clipped consistently.

Tall plants
*Cherry laurel: tall and somewhat fast-growing, but can be clipped tightly for a tall hedge or screen.
*Leylandii cypress: makes a fine, tall screen if clipped every few months. Not long-lived.
*Privet: fast-growing, so keep your pruners ready to keep it in control.
*Photinia: medium-paced growth with new red leaves in spring and creates a puffy, looser hedge.
*Yew: very expensive, so appropriately the hedge material of choice for royalty. The slowest growing of all hedge plants. Yews are definitely an investment in the long-term possibilities of your property.