Boxwood Birds

[Dazed_Lily]

Here's my new bright idea. In the April 2007 Better Homes & Gardens, an article described how to select a boxwood and shape it into a bird: rooster, duck, goose--immediately. The woman who does this says "Like a sculptor divining the figure in a block of alabaster, I am looking for a central stem for the bird's legs, and branches that can be the neck and tail feathers."
She removes from pot, parts it in the middle and eyeballs where the taller shoots are--this area will be the bird's head. She wraps the head with copper wire(2mm) to define it, first hooking it onto one of the branches at the central stem to anchor it. And wraps the head and neck. She cuts back the thickest branches, letting the wispier ones cover the cut stubs. And then cuts and shapes the boxwood into the bird's breast and tail.



Easy, huh ? I'll let you know. Wal-Mart has some small boxwoods for $4.
I'll probably end up with a pencil instead of a bird !

[Dazed_Lily]

OK, yesterday I bought two boxwoods at WallyWorld on sale for $4 each. There I was, in the rain, golf umbrella on my shoulder, as I evaluated each and every one of about 25 boxwoods looking for: bird feet, branches for a head and neck as well as a tail.
Next, I need to buy wire.

I also snapped up the last blue rug juniper; it was only $3 and it was all alone. If they had more I would have bought them; they make a nice ground cover.

So, stay tuned to see if I can sculpt a duck, or a pencil, with those boxwoods !