I think your topiary is tops...

Hey guys! This is JP. Since we want to start posting more of our DIY projects, Jamie added me as a contributor on the blog and I'm going to start putting in my 2 cents.

Soooo....spiral topiaries are cool. no question. However, they are also RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I really wanted to get one because I thought it would be the perfect landscaping addition to our pergola outdoor room. I found one that I thought was awesome at a local farmer's market called "Andy's." But it was $120. yes...one hundred and twenty American dollars. ridiculous. I actually asked the guy that worked there if it was the real price....it was.

THEN we checked Lowe's and they had a pretty cool one for $60.

Not bad. Not GREAT...but better than $120. I got a couple of Lowe's gift cards for Christmas and actually went back to get that topiary. However, I noticed that they had the exact same type of tree NOT as a topiary for $30. So...I bought the $30 one and thought to myself "if someone else can do it, I can do it." Which is usually our DIY philosophy and has generally worked out pretty well.

I found a couple of tutorials online (all though the majority of them were for cutting FAKE topiaries) and was successfully able to create my own topiary. Here's what I did:

 I took the uncut tree (I forgot to snap a "true" before) and wrapped masking tape in a spiral (like Christmas lights) around the tree starting at the top and working toward the bottom. Then I took those scissors you see laying on the ground and began to snip away everything except for what the tape was touching (and a few inches on either side). The correct tool to use is a pair of shears, but I was impatient and didn't have any shears. The scissors worked OK, but I threw them away at the end.

Here is how it turned out:

All in all, I am VERY happy with how it turned out. Especially considering it cost me 25% of the one I originally wanted. However, there are a few things I would do differently in hind sight. I would look more carefully for a tree that had one singular trunk running up the middle. The one I grabbed was split between several small trunks. This makes it look not as finished. Additionally, I would maybe wait and get a good pair of shears.

 If you compare mine to the one from Lowe's, it looks like mine has more uneven edges. I think this is just because they are fresh cuts and the leaves on the tree haven't "filled in" the gaps that my cuts left. I think as the tree begins to grow and I groom the cuts it will look much more finished. Hope you enjoyed the how-to!