If you dream of having a formal garden in your backyard, or perhaps you just want to add some playful character to your planting, you should consider including some topiary. Topiary is something of an art and it involves clipping plants into ornamental shapes – whether it's spheres, cones or something a bit more complex, you can really personalize topiary to your style. The first thing to know about topiary is that you can't just use any plant to achieve the look.

There are a range of best plants for topiary that you should choose from – these are plants that can be trained to maintain a shape and are easier to work with, plus it's best to go for evergreens that guarantee year-round interest. Once you have chosen which plants to work with for your topiary and you know what shape you want to achieve, you need to prepare to cut your topiary. However, it isn't as easy as going in with some loppers or shears - there is actually an optimal time of year to shape your topiary and a time of year to avoid.

Here's what experts say on the matter. When is the best time to cut topiary? There's a lot more to think about than just the shape when it comes to incorporating topiary in your yard and choosing to shape yours at the wrong time of year could negatively impact the health of your plants and their growth. Luckily, garden experts have revealed the best time of year to cut topiary and when to avoid doing it.

One of the biggest pruning mistakes is not getting the timing right, and th.