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.
The Wild Rabbit and The Fox are both part of the Daylesford estate – one of the most sustainable organic farms in the UK.
Agrumi has a close relationship with Daylesford and was more than happy to create a few custom topiary pieces to adorn their Inns.
Firstly, a threesome of living topiary foxes were created - each with a unique pose: alert, leaping and sitting.
They are displayed in 3 different areas around 'The Fox' Inn, to create interest at the front entrance, garden steps and bar window.
The inns were both restored using locally sourced natural materials and centuries old techniques, creating a long-lasting environment with minimum impact to the surroundings. They used reclaimed timber, with roof insulation made with sheep’s wool from their organic farm and turned their own cattle hides into leather for the pub’s seating. The aim is to leave the lightest imprint on our planet while creating unique spaces filled with warmth and character.
Sustainability is a key value for Daylesford, which is why they choose to use living plant topiary in their designs. This approach not only adds natural beauty and life to the Inns, but it is also environmentally friendly as the plants continue to grow and thrive over time. By using living topiary, Agrumi and Daylesford are showing their commitment to preserving the environment and promoting sustainable practices in their work.
More recently, a pair of living topiary rabbits was created for another inn: 'The Wild Rabbit'.
The name is a nod to its original title: Conygree Farm – an Anglo Saxon word meaning rabbit enclosure. More recently it was the Tollgate Inn; a building constructed in Cotswolds stone with beautiful proportions, known for its convivial atmosphere and unusual double fireplace.
“Sitting Spiritually” is a Dorset based manufacturer of quality wooden swing seats. They are the only bespoke swing seat maker endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Their headquarters are located down a country road and they wanted a statement piece of topiary out front, so that customers could easily find them.
We designed a topiary version of their favourite swing seat design: the Kyokusen , which is Japanese for “Curves in the air”. The seat’s design draws upon the curves and flow of the Torii, a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of a shrine.
The stand’s shape was adapted to fit into their custom made planter, and covered in star Jasmine plants. In the summer the stand will be covered in white flowers, which will create a wonderful scent.
The seat was covered in Ligustrum plants, which is traditionally our favourite topiary plant. It’s evergreen and has little leaves, perfect for design details.
We installed the topiary into their planter at their Lyme Regis HQ, ensuring that the planter and compost had sufficient drainage.
Sitting Spiritually said about the topiary sculpture:
“TA-DAA
Check out our latest installation at Sitting Spiritually HQ!
There's no missing us now!”
Could your business benefit from some topiary sculptures? Just get in touch!
The Manchester Flower Festival is an integral part of this exciting city, many important landmarks and streets are enhanced with blooming flowers and vibrant colours.
The festival is always popular in Manchester, even more so with it being the first big event of 2021… and it didn’t disappoint!
Agrumi designed and created an artificial baby giraffe and elephant to be placed in Angel Meadow Park. The topiary were within budget, required no maintenance and provided an Instagramable opportunity for visitors to the event.
The pictures that were shared on social media platforms were a huge hit and really became a stand out feature within the city.
We at Agrumi love to be part of such events and create topiary features that stand out for others to enjoy.
Could your town benefit from some topiary sculptures? Just get in touch!
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!
Agrumi have created a metal sculptures range created especially by their head topiary artist, Luigi Frosini. These mainly include British animals such as Roe deer, Sheep, Hares and Pigs. Inspired by the natural world around him, Luigi endeavours to create lifelike animal sculptures.
A while ago, Burford Art Gallery approached Agrumi about making a Metal Horse for a display. (Burford Art Gallery is part of Burford Garden company, an Oxfordshire based Garden shop. They ‘love things that are a little different', so we think we’re a great match!)
This enquiry soon evolved into a series of regular orders of animal sculptures, and now Agrumi has an entire range based on these Metal Animal Sculptures by Luigi Frosini.
Having worked closely with nature, Luigi can create realistic 3D forms made of steel, whilst capturing the personality of each animal and character perfectly.
These are made from annealed steel wire, which naturally turns a rusty brown colour when left outside. We are able to add a lacquer coating, or paint to the sculpture, to help prevent oxidisation, if you prefer this finish.
A selection of these was exhibited at The Chelsea Flower Show 2021, as part of Agrumi’s New Forest exhibition stand.
These are all available to buy from Burford Art Gallery, we can take commisions for custom orders, or you can buy them online from our webshop TopTopiary.
Agrumi were approached by Apex Graphics, an exhibition design company company, to create a topiary logo for their client.
Their client was Acer, the computer IT company, who required their logo recreated in topiary for an event.
We recommended the artificial topiary options, as these are great for events and shows. It means you can move the topiary around easily; they don’t require any watering and are lightweight and durable.
They went for four 60cm high freestanding letters, which can be moved around individually, covered in artificial boxwood. This material creates the effect of a boxwood hedge, with a complete covering of artificial leaves.
Could your company or event benefit from a topiary logo? Contact us for a chat!
Ted Baker is a well-known British luxury clothing success. Trading for over 30 years, the company now has stores around the world.
They first approached us in early 2018 for help with a photo shoot and we made them a topiary French Bull dog that went on to feature in one of their advertising campaigns.
The feedback was so positive that a year later they came to us again for some giant topiary ‘TB’ letters and a custom chair in artificial boxwood. Our Head topiary-maker used to design and make chairs so this commission couldn’t have been in better hands.
As you see the finished ‘furniture’ is elegant and eye-catching. Perfectly matched to Ted Baker’s own style.
Could Agrumi help you with a Topiary sculpture? Contact us for a chat!
Cath Kidston approached us to make them a few artificial boxwood animals for their window display in their Piccadilly store.
Their store has been fitted out with lots of hints of foliage: an artificial grass rug, plants on the shelving units and several leaf covered panels for displaying their accessories. So our artificial boxwood product was the perfect match to compliment their theme.
We made them one 6 foot high Tyrannosaurus-Rex and two ginormous frogs. They were covered in artificial boxwood, which is UV resistant, so they are able to stay in the windows for a long period of time, without fading in the sunlight.
They have used the T-rex as a prop to integrate with the shop’s products and mannequins.
Could your window display benefit from some topiary decoration? Give us a shout!
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!