Messages in the Bottle Highlight Topiary Community’s Passion

Cumbrian-based Levens Hall and Gardens is celebrating the success of an initiative that helped bring the European topiary community together in a shared feat of achievement this year.

Having already seen worldwide gardens throw themselves into its May-time World Topiary Day celebration every year since 2021, Levens Hall and Gardens this year created a Topiary Message in a Bottle relay initiative, to build on the international collaboration.

A glass bottle, containing a topiary message, was dispatched first to Italy, to the Monumental Gardens of Valsanzibio near Padua, and then onward, to bring French and English gardens into the relay.

At each stop-off, the gardens involved in the relay took pictures and even videos for their social media pages.  As importantly, they added messages for other gardens involved and helped share their passion for topiary and love of topiary art.

With the relay bottle now back at Levens Hall and Gardens, it has been possible for the team to view the items that other gardens contributed.  There are postcards from French gardens, letters, quotes that are taken from the inscriptions on statues in in the Valsanzibio topiary garden, goodwill messages and even a bespoke illustrated card, from Balmoral Cottage in Benenden.

One message reads, “Lots of happy clipping and spreading the word worldwide” – something that has happened in a huge way, thanks to World Topiary Day.  Other messages simply demonstrate that a topiary community has been forged through the initiative.

As the Château et Jardins de la Ballue, in Brittany, said, in an Instagram post, "Bravo aux jardins de Levens Hall pour cette super idée!" (well done to Levens Hall for this super idea).

Owner of Levens Hall and Gardens, Richard Bagot, says, “We were thrilled to see how wonderfully our topiary message in a bottle initiative worked and we are now thinking of ways to expand this next year and involve even more gardens.  What shines through the messages is the shared passion for this garden artform and the fact that gardens can collaborate and gain mutual benefit from doing so.  

“We are extremely proud of what World Topiary Day has done, in this regard.  This year, we even demonstrated that by producing our own Topiary Tourism Guide, featuring 35 gardens that took part this year and highlighting the topiary features at each one.  This is free to download from our website and another example of working as one topiary community.”

Levens Hall and Gardens is currently building on this by encouraging people to put some or all of the gardens on their ‘must-yew list’, to seek out the incredible topiary features that can be enjoyed.  Being home to the world’s oldest topiary garden makes a visit to Levens Hall and Gardens very much a ‘must-yew’ venue.

As one message in the bottle, contributed by Le Jardin des Ifs in Gerberoy, France, says, “Topiary is at the crossroad of nature and culture.”  

With this in mind, the must-yew list is perhaps something everyone should compile.

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Editors notes

Levens Hall & Gardens is a historic house in the South Lakes, Cumbria, close to Kendal and home to the world's oldest topiary gardens, dating from 1694, created by French garden designer, Guillaume Beaumont. The Hall is a stunning Elizabethan house built around a 13th century pele tower and has close links to the Duke of Wellington, as well as various items which once belonged to him and Napoleon Bonaparte. Levens Park is home to the rare Bagot goats gifted to the Bagot family and a place in which to stroll and enjoy nature. Levens Kitchen is the contemporary new cafe, full of delights for cake lovers and foodies alike.