Formal shaped plants

Training trees to produce a narrow screen is known as pleaching. Pleached trees deliver height while presenting space below. Pleached trees can also create walkways, tunnels and arches which is a stunning addition to your woodland. Glorious Woodlands will plant trees for pleaching in winter as they prune in winter during their first years. During summer, we will train and tie new shoots. We recommend 8-10 feet between rows to present an inviting pathway in years to come. For tunnels and arches it’s important to provide a permanent frame for support.

Other formal plants like Topiary and sculptured hedges can form a powerful “postmodern” contrast between the human wish to formalise nature next to the wildness of a woodland left to its own evolution. 

Clipped box hedges are evergreen hedges that give structure to your woodland design. Similar to hedgerows, they are good for marking boundaries and borders.  Having walkways in your woodland with hedges provides another habitat for wildlife as well as creating a different shape and style to your woodland design. Combining hedges next to pleached trees creates a beautiful walkway to your new woodland from your more formal garden. They can create a surreal atmosphere giving the woodland a dream like magical quality.