Someone Got Carried Away With the Hedge (6 Photos)

Hedges clipped into animals

A front-garden hedge can become an elephant. A clipped border can hide a running dog. These six photos show topiary animals in a Spanish city square and in English front gardens and estate grounds.

More: Tree stump art and carvings

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🐘 Elephant Hedges — By Tim Bushe in London, England 🇬🇧

Tim Bushe began turning a neighbor’s overgrown privet into a herd of elephants in 2012, on the corner of Ambler Road and Romilly Road in Finsbury Park. An architect who posts as Hedgecutter Man, he told Time Out that the 15-foot hedge looked like it “could become a herd of elephants,” and he has used it to raise money for the learning-disability charity Hft. In this 2022 photograph, the trunks hang down over the garden wall.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsElephant HedgesTim Bushe · Ambler Road, LondonPrivet topiaryHedge was 15 ft (Time Out)£4,000+ raised for Hft1According to the Washington Post, he cuts freehand, and a shape takes about three years to fill in.Washington Post via Stars and Stripes2In 2019 a tenant considered removing the elephants; neighbours persuaded him to stop, The London Economic reported.The London Economic201214 JulAfter the second cut · Out of my shed201422 OctCharity offer · Islington Now20184 MayApprentice trims · Islington Tribune201814 MayInterview · Time Out201912 AugFacing the chop · The London Economic202216 JanMumphingSquirrel photo · camera date20245 AugGoogle Maps landmark · Washington PostRead the full file →

🔗 Follow Tim Bushe on Instagram

📷 Photo: MumphingSquirrel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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🦖 Dinoseto — Vigo, Spain 🇪🇸

Dinoseto stands above a bed of red flowers in this 2020 photograph from the Porta do Sol in central Vigo. It drew so many people taking pictures that the city proposed a designated photo spot in 2015 to protect the planting. In late 2020, construction work on the square meant it was moved to the Alameda in Praza de Compostela.

💡 Nerd Fact: The boxwood dinosaur first turned up on a roundabout on Rosalía de Castro street, and the placement was described at the time as a mistake, since it had reportedly been meant for a park in the Navia area. It was removed quickly, but photos had already spread online, and internet users gave it the name Dinoseto.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDinosetoConcello de Vigo · 2015 · Vigo, SpainBoxwood on a wire frameCalf: DinosetiñoMoved to the Alameda 20201According to Xataka, Mayor Abel Caballero called it the most photographed monument in Vigo.Xataka2On 2 October 2024 it left the Alameda for the municipal nursery in O Castro, to be restored.VigoÉ201612 MayRoi González Villa photo · camera date202027 AugPorta do Sol photo · camera date202030 OctLeaving Porta do Sol · VigoÉ202223 May“Dying” in the Alameda · Xataka20241 AugLosing its shape · VigoÉ20242 OctMoved to O Castro · VigoÉ202523 MayAt the nursery · Atlántico20252 OctStill being restored · El Español20269 FebNew site considered · AtlánticoRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Toatway / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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🐕 A Dog in the Hedge — Badminton, England 🇬🇧

A running dog emerges from the clipped surface of this hedge in the gardens of Badminton House, close to the pets’ cemetery, according to the photographer’s notes from June 2025. The raised tail and space below its belly make the shape readable without a single added eye or painted detail.

💡 Place Fact: The estate gave its name to a sport: according to Britannica, the game of badminton was first played at Badminton, the Duke of Beaufort’s country estate, around 1873.

📷 Photo: “A topiary dog” by Philip Halling / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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🦌 A Leafy Reindeer — Hever Castle, England 🇬🇧

A clipped reindeer stands on the lawn at Hever Castle in Kent. The garden’s account of its Topiary Walk explains that the reindeer is one of the shapes supported by a frame to help retain its outline.

📷 Photo: “Hever Castle stag topiary” by Robert Eva / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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🦚 A Peacock on a Pedestal — Greatford, England 🇬🇧

A peacock perches above stepped layers of hedge in front of a house near Greatford, Lincolnshire. Its narrow neck and swept-up tail do most of the work; the rest is a very tidy pedestal.

📷 Photo: “Topiary peacock” by Bob Harvey / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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🐿️ A Giant Squirrel — Rufford Old Hall, England 🇬🇧

The curled tail gives this squirrel away. Rufford Old Hall in Lancashire has two giant squirrel topiaries, maintained by its garden team. According to the National Trust, the shapes used to be pheasants in the 1900s.

💡 History Fact: The National Trust dates the house to around 1530, when Sir Robert Hesketh built it; in the time of Sir Thomas Hesketh (1526–88), it was larger, housing his own company of actors and musicians. The Hesketh family gave the hall to the National Trust in 1936.

📷 Photo: Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Cover: “Topiary elephants, Finsbury Park, London (close view)” by MumphingSquirrel (CC BY-SA 4.0) and “Rufford Old Hall 14” by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net) (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons; cropped and combined. Cover composition: CC BY-SA 4.0.