Someone Got Carried Away With the Hedge (12 Photos)

October 19, 2026

By Vidar

Hedges clipped into animals

A front-garden hedge can become an elephant. A garden wall can end up carrying a giant snail. These 12 photos show real topiary animals in streets, front gardens, and estate grounds across England, Spain, Slovakia, and the United States, from a cat above the street to a frog wearing a leafy crown.

More: Tree stump art and carvings

🐘 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 →

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

🦖 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).

🐕 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).

🦌 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).

🦚 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).

🐿️ 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).

🐌 The Snail Above the Garden Wall — Malvern, England 🇬🇧

A spiral cut into the foliage gives this snail its shell; two upright feelers finish the shape. Philip Halling photographed it in Malvern in January 2026. It takes up most of the space above the garden wall.

📷 Photo: Philip Halling / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

🐇 A Rabbit in the Border — Helmingham Hall, England 🇬🇧

Long ears, rounded cheeks, and a small open mouth give this rabbit its expression. Michael Garlick photographed it in the topiary border at Helmingham Hall in June 2017. Flowers and foliage grow right around its feet.

📷 Photo: Michael Garlick / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

🦁 The Queen’s Beasts — Hall Place, Bexley, England 🇬🇧

These large heraldic animals line the lawn at Hall Place in Bexley. The garden’s Queen’s Beasts topiary was planted in 1953 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. Each creature has its own silhouette, with shields and broad leafy paws.

📷 Photo: Ethan Doyle White / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

🐸 King Frog — Helmingham Hall, England 🇬🇧

This frog has a crown, rounded eyes, and a mouth that stretches across its face. It is another character in the topiary border at Helmingham Hall, photographed by Michael Garlick on the same June 2017 visit as the rabbit. The whole expression is cut into the greenery.

📷 Photo: Michael Garlick / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

🐘 An Elephant Beside the Apartments — Bratislava, Slovakia 🇸🇰

A large elephant raises its curled trunk above smaller clipped animals beside apartment buildings. Jozef Kotulič photographed this planted strip on Nad lúčkami in Bratislava’s Karlova Ves district in July 2007. Even the low hedge around the animals has been cut into waves.

📷 Photo: Jozef Kotulič / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).

🐘 An Elephant Among the Tulips — Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA 🇺🇸

An elephant stands above beds of spring tulips at Green Animals Topiary Garden in this May 2023 photograph. The estate’s first topiaries were started in a greenhouse in 1912. Gardeners Joseph Carreiro and George Mendonca developed the collection of animals and other shapes.

📷 Photo: Daderot / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0).