Behind the scenes of an ITV production....
Agrumi helped by providing a topiary New Forest Pony for the filming of a children's comedy arts and crafts show called 'Makeaway Takeaway'.
Bec Hill, who presents the show, always takes on a big creation at the end of each show. This time she was taking on a pony, a familiar sight in our area of the New Forest.
Firstly, we created a pony shaped framework and planted up several trees and bushes inside, to hide the frame from view.
Then this was taken to the filming location, just down the road in Sway. A local arts charity, spudWORKS, provided their premises for the day’s filming.
Our topiary artist started work turning the plants into the form of the pony (while the cameras were off) , and Bec copied his technique for the filming shots.
Slowly, but surely, the Pony shape came to life...
Lots of the local community came to help out, including children from the local school who helped create the floral necklace that embellished the pony at the end of filming.
It was a joy to be part of such a great project!
You can watch this epsode of Makeaway Takeaway called 'Unbe-Leaf-Able' on ITVX.
With the importance of butterflies and our environment being so prevalent, Agrumi were delighted to be asked to help Paddington’s Business Improvement District (Paddington Now) with their plans to create a butterfly friendly garden in Norfolk Square.
Agrumi made 2 large butterfly sculptures for the garden project, which not only are bright and beautiful, but they also help to attract pollinators. The body and wings are wrapped in Star Jasmine plants; their fragrant white flowers are rich in nectar, which is ideal for lots of bees and butterflies.
The wings of the butterflies were created with coloured dry moss. Agrumi produced the wing formations stuffed with dry moss and added the paint in the two colour schemes that the BID selected. We think the colours on the butterflies look great together and hope that visitors to the garden agree!
The BID is working with ‘Big City Butterflies’ to encourage more butterflies into the area and will monitor the numbers over the coming years. It has brought about a butterfly count in the garden during July and August 2021, as part of the Butterfly’s Conservation initiative.
You can read more about the entire Norfolk Square Butterfly garden project here
Could your town’s BID benefit from any topiary sculptures? Just get in touch!
Sunday 27th October 2019 marked one year since the helicopter accident that claimed the lives of the late Leicester City Chairman (Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha), staff members Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, and pilots Eric Swaffer and Izabela Lechowicz outside King Power Stadium.
We were asked to produce three topiary sculptures for the memorial garden built on the crash site – one fox, one elephant and one horse.
The fox was chosen as the club logo is a fox and it was covered in ligustrum. The elephant was chosen to give a nod to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's Thai heritage and that, as well as the prancing horse, was covered in star jasmine.
The club hosted a private multi-faith ceremony on 27th October 2019, at the garden, exactly one year after the helicopter crash that killed Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and 4 others.
We worked flat out to produce and deliver all the animals so that they could be planted before opening day.
After the opening day, the present CEO requested for the elephant’s pose to be changed. We happily accepted the elephant back at our workshop for alteration. We adapted the elephant’s head to be facing upwards, so that it had a more lively appearance.
Leicester City Chief Executive Susan Whelan said about the garden: “…something peaceful, something poignant and something beautiful, where supporters of today and of future generations can remember what one man’s vision did for this Club, this community.
“The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden will be the latest in a series of lasting tributes that will form part of Khun Vichai’s legacy.”
If we can help you with some topiary sculptures please do get in touch!
Hatton Garden is famously known as London’s jewellery quarter, so when they asked Agrumi Topiary Art to make a giant diamond ring it made a lot of sense!
We were asked for the topiary to be free standing on a large scale so that people could stand in it for photos. So we created the design for a 3 metre high Diamond Ring, high enough to stand under, which would be bolted into the ground.
Artificial boxwood was the topiary medium of choice for this project, as it is a realistic alternative to living plant that would last through the installation with zero maintenance.
This project was brought about by the Hatton Garden BID (Business Improvement District), which funds improvements to the local area, to enhance commercial areas and celebrate the area’s uniqueness. A major benefit of BIDs is that they encourage footfall into the highstreet.
They were interested in having a planter filled with flowering plants at the top of the ‘diamond’ so we left this hollow. We created an artificial floral display (pink orchids, blue delphinium and various white flowers) to represent a pot full of flowers. They loved this so much that we left these built in for the duration of the ring’s installation!
A big sign was placed on the ground saying “SMILE Take a photo in the ring and share with us @HattonGDN to win great prizes this summer… #HattonSummer”.
"Hatton Garden is steeped in history relating to jewellery and diamonds. We are very proud of our identity and want to celebrate who we are. This is why Hatton Garden BID commissioned Agrumi Limited to design a bespoke large topiary engagement ring to be placed on the high street. We could not be happier with the result and it provided a fantastic way for people to get involved and share their stories / moments in our area."
- James Sackley, BID Manager, Hatton Garden BID
As you can see this has been a success with people sharing the images online:
A giant topiary ring has officially landed in Hatton Garden! What do you think? 🌲 Share your photos, tag us and use the hashtag #HattonSummer and you could win a fantastic prize before the summer is out ✨ #Win #Comp pic.twitter.com/06augx3gIu
— Hatton Garden BID (@HattonGDN) August 7, 2019
Rainy weather didn't stop #HattonSummer! Love this giant green ring 🤩💍 and delicious raspberry macaroons from @bleedingheartyd Thanks @HattonGDN pic.twitter.com/vU1EP4hRow
— Frøya (@freyamathers_) August 14, 2019
Don't know where the sun has gone but hoping it will come back @HattonGDN #HattonSummer pic.twitter.com/rVcj7i4S3t
— Anne McCauley (@AnneMccauley4) August 19, 2019
Approved by the Hatton Garden BID chairman... 💍
Hatton Garden engagement ring installed in time for next weeks pop up park!
Go take a selfie with the ring and share on social media to be in with a chance to win a prize!! @HattonGDN#HattonSummer #HattonGarden pic.twitter.com/jxYDhkoyVp— Presman Mastermelt (@Mastermelt) August 8, 2019
@HattonGDN #hattonsummer pic.twitter.com/Rh6pmQdL4J
— Elski (@elski2) August 30, 2019
@HattonGDN #HattonSummer pic.twitter.com/oUgKhEqdYK
— Tracy Gladman (@2668looby) September 12, 2019
What a beautiful day for diamonds! 💖@HattonGDN #hattonsummer pic.twitter.com/wY3nHIrmxl
— Helena Zelem (@helenazelem) September 21, 2019
@HattonGDN is it still a #hattonsummer ? #gemstonedetective is visiting Hatton Garden with the Gemstone Detective #travelguide #BookSeries 📚 https://t.co/xaD6XRVAyk pic.twitter.com/moU12otayg
— Gemstone Detective (@kimrix) October 9, 2019
Does your town need some topiary love? Get in touch to see what we can do for you!