How To Make A Topiary With Live Boxwood Cuttings

I just love live topiaries! But unfortunately, I have a problem keeping them alive inside the house. I tried this recently and love how it turned out, so I want to show you how to make a topiary with live boxwood cuttings.

The great thing about this topiary is that it’s actually real boxwood cuttings, so you get the look and feel of a live topiary instead of faux.

The boxwood will actually just gradually dry out, and still looks really nice for quite a while.

Also, it’s super easy and inexpensive to create! Most of the things you need to create a topiary with live boxwood cuttings, you probably already have on hand.

supplies for a boxwood topiary

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flower pot or planter/container of your choice (for this topiary I used the stem and pot from a live topiary I already had that had died)
stirofoam (if you’re not using an existing topiary stem/pot)
real stick or tree branch
moss
hot glue gun
floral tape
live boxwood cuttings

how to create your topiary with boxwood cuttings

First of all, you want to place a piece of stirofoam inside your planter/container. Again, for this particular topiary, I used a planter and the stalk of a live topiary I already had, that had died.

My topiary had a dowel stick placed next to the stalk, and the two were secured together with green floral tape.

I didn’t like the look of it, so I removed the green floral tape and replaced it with pieces of twine.

I forgot to get a before picture of the stalk with the green floral tape, but you can see what it looks like after I removed the floral tape and added the twine.

If you are not using an existing topiary, you can create one by placing stirofoam inside your planter or pot. Secure to the bottom of the pot with hot glue.

Next, you will insert your stem/stick inside the center of the stirofoam. I would recommend securing that with a little hot glue, as well.

You don’t necessarily need to add a dowel stick beside your topiary stalk unless you are using a fairly small or flimsy stick. Then you might want to add the dowel for stability.

adding your boxwood cuttings

Now, you are ready to start adding your boxwood cuttings.

Hopefully, you have some boxwood shrubs in your yard or perhaps a friend has some and would let you give them a trim.

Cut small pieces of the boxwood and begin attaching them one at a time to the base using floral tape.

Continue adding until you get the desired fullness you want.

Remember to keep turning the topiary as you work so that you get a nice even fullness all the way around.

The pictures above show the “in progress” of the topiary.

Throughout the process of adding boxwood branches, I occasionally added a bit of hot glue in addition to the floral tape to help secure the branches.

These photos are after I got the fullness I wanted for my topiary.

If the shape is irregular you can trim it to the desired shape you want. I wanted mine somewhat natural looking, so I didn’t do a lot of trimming.

When I was done adding my boxwood pieces, I finished the topiary off by glueing a bit of green moss around the base of the branches to hide the floral tape and any hot glue that might be showing.

I just left the dirt in my pot exposed, but if you are starting with a new pot/topiary and using stirofoam, you can either fill the pot with dirt around the stirofoam or add a layer of moss to cover it.

the finished topiary with live boxwood cuttings

And that’s it! Super easy and inexpensive topiary.

I love how it turned out, and as I mentioned earlier, the boxwood will gradually dry out, but will look nice for quite a while.

I hope you enjoyed this post on how to make a topiary with live boxwood cuttings, and try one of your own.

Let me know if you do. I love hearing from you! “

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