How to Make a Table Top Topiary

Topiary is the art of training climbing and viney plants to grow in the shape of animals and other fantasy forms. While gardeners have been forming outdoor topiaries from trees and shrubs for centuries, the widespread availability of Mosser Lee's Long Fibered Sphagnum Moss has exposed the art to thousands of home gardeners. Follow these simple directions to create an attractive topiary for your home:

1. Purchase a wire topiary frame at your local garden center, craft shop or through a catalog. Many frames depict small animals, miniature trees, balloons and other common objects.
2. Place Mosser Lee's Long Fibered Sphagnum Moss in a bucket, add enough water to completely saturate the moss and squeeze the excess water out of the moss. Remember to wear gloves when handling mosses, plants and soils.
3. Place handfuls of the wet moss into the wire frame carefully, starting with the figure's extremities such as the tail or legs. Also, mold additional wet moss around the wire frame so that the frame is completely covered. As you finish an extremity or small area, tie fishing line to the frame and tightly wrap the line many times around the mossed area following the contours of the frame.
4. Continue stuffing moss into and on the frame, a small section at a time, repeating the fishing line wrapping method noted above. Make sure that the entire body is filled with wet sphagnum moss and that the mossed frame has been wrapped tightly with a fishing line.
5. Trim the shaggy moss ends from the frame with a scissors.
6. Make small holes into the moss with a dibble and place small plants or "plugs" into the holes. We highly recommend using creeping fig (Ficus repens). Add additional wet moss, if needed, and close the hole with hand pressure around the plugs. You may need to pin vines to the moss with fern pins after planting. Direct long runners up necks or tails to speed coverage. Leave some space for the plants to grow.
7. Put the topiary in a saucer with drainage holes and place it in a location where it will receive bright sunlight (patio, East or South exposure windowsill, balcony, etc).

WATERING:
Keep your topiary moist. Your figure's extremities will dry out first so check them every day and mist regularly especially when the surface feels dry. Sprinkle the entire topiary, spray it with a kitchen sprayer in your sink, or dunk it in a pail of water to make sure that the entire figure remains moist. Never allow your topiary to dry out or become over saturated.

FERTILIZING:
Sphagnum Moss provides no nutritional value so in order for your plants to grow, you will need to fertilize. Apply a general purpose (20-20-20) liquid fertilizer at half the recommended rate every other week during the Spring or once a month during the Winter.

TEMPERATURE:
Avoid extremes above 90°F or below 60°F.

GROOMING:
Keep your topiary plants trimmed or pinned close to the body. Long runners or new growth can be trained to fill in bare spots.

Additional Topiary Project Ideas: Click on the pictures for additional topiary ideas.

 Mosser Lee Long Fibered Sphagnum Moss supports Disney World horticulturists in creating topiaries in the park: