Trimming A Boxwood Into A Bird

I am waiting for my son to wake up from last nights exhausting festivities. The plans are to head out & get bags of small pebbles & shrubs for around the newly cleared out areas in my backyard. I want something artistic and kind of English garden feeling, so Boxwood seems to be on my list. I did a little research to find out what it takes to trim them into a cool shape (mainly a birdie)...here's what I found.
I found this tutorial on ehow.com and thought it was pretty helpful.

Directions:
Step 1
Start to create boxwood hedge designs in early summer or late spring when the leaves are new on the hedge. Decide on a design to make with the hedge. Animals are popular designs for hedges and often hedges already have a similarities to specific animals.
Step 2
Imagine how the animal's body can be formed out of the hedge. A typical small boxwood hedge can easily be shaped into a bird, for example, by beginning the design with simple square shape. This square shape can become the body of a perched bird. Insert sticks to designate where the head and tail will be. Start to trim the upper parts of the shrub into a contour of the shape of the animal.
Step 3
Round the corners into a circular shape to form the bird's body. Do not concentrate on small details of the design. Cut slowly with the hand clippers and step back frequently to assess your progress. Look carefully at the hedge and determine which stems of the hedge could be shaped into the head and which stems could become the tail. Insert sticks on both ends of the body to show where the head and tail will be. Begin to clip the hedge around the head. Do not make extreme cuts. Rather, make small clips and then allow the hedge to grow and then make more small clips. In this way, the hedge will grow into the desired shape. Repeat this process on the other end where the stick was placed for the bird's tail. Continue trimming and watching as the hedge grows to keep it growing into the shapes for the head and tail. Remove the sticks when the head and tail have grown as desired.

And a little more Boxwood inspiration

The cone shape is so pretty on either side of the stone bench and the manicured hedge style border is the perfect formal addition.







The sphere shape is really sopisticated and slightly modern which I tend to shy away from but the edging the old brick makes it feel cozy.








This bordered off gardens using trimmed boxwood is so english and super formal. I love the statue in the middle.










Amazing right? These pacaderms are in Newport,RI and I'd imagine took years of trimming to get to this point. So over the top! You need quite a house to support this landscape;)










Very simply done. She makes it look almost like it grew on it's own. The small ceramic pots in front of each hedge is a great touch.








A fab topiary and two rabbits watching over...adorable! Looks pretty easy to do the rabbits right? What do I know yet..lol.