(Credit: Getty Images)
Tim Bushe is standing with his hedge trimmer in a quiet cul-de-sac in the Islington neighborhood of London, painstakingly trimming what looks to be an ordinary hedge. However, if you stand back, you’ll discover that his design is far but typical. It’s a gigantic, perfectly manicured locomotive-shaped topiary.
“My wife Philippa was the catalyst for everything,” Bushe says, taking a break from his work. “”She’d sit in the living room and look out at the hedge, demanding I shape it into a cat.” She took the train instead. It was over fifteen years ago.
Tim has continued the whimsical tradition started by Philippa Bushe, who went away seven years ago after losing her fight with breast cancer. His artistic abilities expanded as he assisted a neighbor in trimming his hedge, and he also started to pay respect to his late wife.
When Bushe is not making hedge sculptures, he works as an architect. “It’s her legacy,” he says. His inventions have grown beyond his own garden over time. Apart from the locomotive, he has also fashioned hedges into fish, hippopotamuses, elephants, and a reproduction of Henry Moore’s famous “Reclining Nude.”” No one in the neighborhood is happier than Polly Barker, the owner of the home where the “Reclining Nude” is on display, when a new creation is made.”I was worried the neighbors might not appreciate it, but it’s become quite the tourist attraction,”
There’s more to Bushe’s hedge sculptures than just enjoyment. He raises money for several charities, especially those that support environmental causes, with each new commission. “I’ve raised about £10,000 for the organization that cares for my sister, who has Down syndrome,” he says.
Bushe lets the shape of the hedge lead him in his hedge-trimming, which he views as both an artistic and a commemorative endeavor. He says, “I find the form within the hedge.” Bushe intends to carry on paying homage to Philippa’s creative energy with his leafy tributes for as long as he can climb a ladder. “How much this has taken off would interest her if she were still here.
