disney's Topiaries

Now that the weather is warming up, and birds wake me up every morning, gardening has been on my mind! A few months back, we enjoyed watching the Disney special on Hulu called Decorating Disney: Holiday Magic. (It's still there if you want to see it) and it showed the incredible number of people and how much year round effort goes into into making Disney's parks so magical, but one area that really surprised me was the gardening department. 

While every time we have gone to Disney, I've enjoyed the wonderful scenery, it's been just that, walking along, thinking how nice everything looks. I had no idea how LONG it takes to make it all look so wonderful! 

Disney Horticulturists do so much, but today I am just focusing on the topiary. 

Every Disney topiary starts with an idea, then multiple sketches. Once those are approved, a small statue is made, in the shape of the final product. Welders take over the next step, making a steel frame in the exact shape of the statue, and this part can take several months.  Once the frame is made, the inside is stuffed with moss, then thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of plants are put on the frame. Once the topiary is completed, it still needs to be maintained to look it's best for guests, so they are constantly being taken care of.  

Because it takes so long to make a topiary, once one is no longer on display (say, a special holiday made one), it is taken back to the Disney World Nursery, and taken good care of until it is needed again. If taken care of, the topiary can last for decades! Check out a few of my favorites! 

Copyright Disney

I stumbled upon a really neat video where Martha Stewart gets taken into the Disney World Nursery, and gets to work with them to create a topiary. There you can see how it goes, from beginning with a sketch, then a statue, then a frame and the final product! For some reason, my computer is playing it funny, I have great sound, but the video is speed up a little. Hopefully it plays well for you! Here is the link. 

If you'd love a few more pictures, you can visit Disney's website by clicking here, and get more information on their Flower and Garden Festival, where you can see old favorites, new creations and more flowers than you never knew, you never knew!

Stop by on facebook and share a few of your favorites, I'd love to see them!