What is a blobbery – and why your garden needs balls, clouds and lollipops – The Middle-Sized Garden
You may not have heard of a ‘blobbery.’
But you have almost definitely seen blobberies in some of the most stylish gardens.
They give a garden structure and interest all year round. And they are easy to clip and maintain.
It’s a term coined by the company Architectural Plants, so I talked to Guy Watts, their managing director. I asked him to explain blobberies and how we can use them in our garden.
‘An architectural plant is one that has shape and form – it’s about having structure in a plant.’
And a blobbery is a formation of ‘blob’-shaped plants together. ‘Often the blobs are wider than they are tall,’ says Guy. ‘So you get that lovely squashed ball shape.’
A ‘blobbery’ at Architectural Plants, with a niwaki cloud-pruned topiary at its heart. This low-lying, undulating wave of plant balls is cut into curving shapes and punctuated by tall slim cypress uprights (Cupressus sempervivens ‘Pyramidalis’) and the specimen topiary as a highlight.
‘You mix them together – different types of plants as blobs – and sometimes they’ll merge together over time.’
So a blobbery is a sequence of plant balls, planted in an undulating shape and punctuated with other striking topiary plants.
(Note: in some parts of the US, a ‘blobbery’ is used as a dismissive term – to mean a shapeless mass of planting. But these masses very definitely have shape!)
How to use a blobbery in garden design
You could group a number of ‘blob’ balls under a tree, says Guy. For that you’d choose shade tolerant plants.
Two ‘blobberies’ I’ve particularly loved – I visited the gardens before I’d even heard the term ‘blobbery’ but they are both very clever. Top photo show Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’ surrounded by box balls in this post about Alternatives to Box. The photo above is in garden designer Paul Bangay’s own garden with a curving line of box balls under fruit trees. See more of this garden in Paul Bangay – garden inspiration.
Try combining balls of different sizes, shapes and varieties.
Or you could plant the blobbery in a prominent position, treating it like a piece of sculpture.
You can add other elements to it. For example, Architectural Plants has been adding acers to blobberies (see below) to give pops of autumn colour.
Generally you should use odd numbers in design, advises Guy. Plant your blobbery with 3,5 or 7 plants. But because the plants work together as a unit, that can be less important.
Two gardens created by Architectural Plants. In the top photo, acers punctuated the curves of the blobbery, creating both a contrast in shape and, in the autumn/fall in leaf colour. The photo above shows a blobbery as a sculptural effect in a front garden. Photos by permission of Architectural Plants
What are the best plants for a blobbery?
The classic plant for any kind of clipped ball is box (boxwood).
However, the spread of box tree moth caterpillar and box blight around the UK and Europe means that it is now very unwise to plant box. There are also reports of it in North America. While Australia and some other parts of the world currently appear to be free of it, some designers are nevertheless advising against planting box.
If you’re worried that you may have box caterpillar moth (or even if you’re not worried yet!) read How To Spot Box Tree Moth Caterpillar – and How to Deal With It.
But there are a wide range of plants that can be used in blobberies, according to Guy.
They include Viburnum tinus, shrubby honeysuckle, yew, pittosporum, Portuguese cherry laurel and holly.
These smart clipped balls are evergreen Shrubby honeysuckle (Lonicera Nitida) and the spikes are Cabbage Palm (Cordyline australis.) The spiral in the background is yew (Taxus baccata).
Shrubby honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida) is fast-growing in popularity
Shrubby honeysuckle is probably one of the most popular alternatives to box at the moment. Guy says that it had got a ‘bad reputation’. Some varieties of honeysuckle are very invasive in parts of the North America. However, Lonicera nitida is not listed as invasive.
But it is fast-growing! It clips well, but you will have to clip it around four times a year. And it’s gaining in popularity. ‘We’ve sold more Lonicera nitida in the past year than in the whole of the last twenty years,’ says Guy.
Guy suggests that you minimise your work load by mixing the faster-growing balls with slower growing ones like yew, which only has to be clipped once or twice a year.
What choosing balls for your blobbery, find out how often they will need to be clipped!’ he warns.
These clipped and shaped yew blobs at Architectural Plants are wider than they are high and have a little point on top. Yew is slow growing, so it needs to be clipped less.
Portuguese cherry laurel (Prunus lusitanica) is another good choice for clipped balls, although it has slightly larger leaves than box or honeysuckle. Here you can see Prunus clipped as a multi-stem, ball, raised slightly off the ground (top). The photo above shows the plant shaped as ‘a slightly squashed ball.’
And try a multi-stemmed blobbery!
Guy says that Architectural Plants is a growers’ nursery as well as having a design studio. ‘And if you’re a grower, you might have 100 plants but only sell 80 of them. So you pot on the other twenty and they grow.’
Then they realised that many of these slightly taller balls would look good with multi-stem base. They trimmed away the lower foliage to reveal the bottom of the stems.
A mix of ‘blobs’ with a multi-stem ‘blob’ and a multi-stemmed acer for autumn colour. Photo by permission of Architectural Plants
Cryptomeria japonica as a multi-stemmed ‘blob’. This is one of the plants that outgrew its original blob shape but adds texture and interest with its new height and exposed lower stems.
Include deciduous balls to create texture and structure
Not all blobs and balls have to be tightly clipped evergreens. Guy recommends adding beech balls for autumn/fall interest. Both beech and hornbeam can be clipped into balls and their leaves change colour to a rich copper brown over winter.
‘Beech is better than hornbeam because it holds onto more of its leaves in winter’, says Guy.
He also recommends the dwarf conifer version of Japanese Cedar Cryptomeria japonica – particularly the variety ‘Globosa Nana’.
Add texture to your blobbery. The top photo shows a beech ball on the left in garden designer Charlotte Rowe’s garden (see Charlotte’s garden design tips here). Above photo shows a Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria Japonica ‘Globosa Nana’) which grows naturally into a structured ball.
Other architectural plants to mix with a blobbery
Mix other plants with strong shapes and textures into your blobbery. A popular choice is a niwaki cloud-pruned tree.
Cloud-pruned niwaki trees (seen here lined up at Architectural Plants) are one of the most popular statement plants to include in a blobbery, says Guy.
Classic English topiary works well in a blobbery. This is a yew (Taxus baccata) spiral. Topiary can be expensive, but you can also ‘grow your own’. See How to Buy Topiary on a Middlesized Budget.
Add spiky ‘jungle’ leaves to a blobbery. The top photo shows Shrubby honeysuckle with Cordyline and the photo above shows palm trees with box balls.
Spiky cordylines with tightly clipped Lonicera Nitida balls at the Architectural plants nursery
Lollipops are another good shape to include in a blobbery. This is Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium) clipped into a ‘standard’.
Olive trees add foliage interest and can be clipped. They also last well in pots.
More about Architectural Plants
Architectural Plants has a 32-acre nursery in Sussex with over 40,000 trees and plants, from mature topiary and multi-stems to colourful acers and hardy evergreen specimens.
You need to book your visit. Explore paths lined with screening plants, a dedicated acer house, a lake garden, and even a tropical grove.
Eleven indoor polytunnels showcase exotic structural plants—from tree ferns and large palms to homegrown favourites. And the Niwaki zone offers dramatic cloud-pruned trees in various stages of training. Beyond this is a Propagation Laboratory, where they grow unusual and sculptural specimens to inspire striking garden design.
There is also a garden design service and you can hire the space for weddings or other venue hire.
There are styled areas of the Architectural Plants nursery showcasing ideas for using structural plants.
Pin to remember architectural plants and blobberies
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