The sculptor prunes and shapes different plants such as the box, the yew, the laurel, holly an cypres. Topiary, the training and pruning to shape of plant structures, was already known in the first century. Gardeners of the Roman writer Plinius were already pruning box growths in the form of the initials of their master. The Romans also created wild animals and mythical figures. The name « TOPIAIRES » has Roman origins.

« Topiarus » was actually the name Plinius used to call gardeners. This art form is probably much older. The gardeners of Plinius were indeed Egyptian and Syrian slaves, and maybe they brought this passion for topiary to Rome. Whatever, after the Roman era topiary was forgotten and only reappeared after the Renaissance.
 

English and French gardens then had abundances of box that were pruned into geometric forms. This art form was particularly popular from the 17th century, mainly in England, France, Italy and the Netherlands. 
But this was a leisure activity for amateurs. Well-known landscape gardeners frowned upon the Work. 
An interesting detail is that during the Second World War thousands of box trees were cut in the Netherlands to make room for potatoes and tobacco.

Many visitors would like to know how the sculptor transforms a box bush into a work of art. The answer is very simple. He tells you himself : « All I need is some wire and branches of bamboo. I use this material to make the basic structure. When the plant grows, and this can take a number of years, I take away the wire to give the figure the chance to grow of its own accord or support itself with its own branches. The size of the figure obviously depends on the size of the bush. It is not possible to make a small elephant from a plant that is some ten years old that is allowed to grow to the size of the elephant we have here in the park. »