Barnaby thinks about topiary

Barnaby has been doing the annual trim on two ornamental junipers in his Devon garden. These were planted long before Barnaby lived here and were probably sold originally as 'dwarf' conifers. They are now about twenty feet tall. Now, had the previous owners sculpted these as they grew, by means of judicious snipping and pruning, they could by now be in the form of peacocks, perhaps, or a steam locomotive, maybe. Unfortunately they have grown tall and cylindrical, with a rounded top and look more like giant ... (well, Barnaby is too nice to say what they actually do look like, but he now has the two biggest ones in the neighbourhood).
To celebrate the completion of this year's annual chore, here's a verse that Barnaby wrote on the subject a few years back.

Paradise gardens 

Some people like unkempt gardens

With grasses, wildflowers and sedges.

But I prefer something more formal

With tightly clipped shrubs and trimmed hedges.

A heath’s an elysian field for them.

Paradise is a flowering tree.

But I just want neatness and order.

Yes, yew topiary’s heaven for me.

Oct 02

(You can find more of Barnaby's quirky verse by visiting www.barnaby-wilde.co.uk )