“Not everyone likes boring landscaping with the traditional flowers, trees, and hedges trimmed into perfect squares — some people just like the unique, out-of-the-ordinary type of life, like the man in this video.
John Brooker is a retired man who lives in East Rudham in the U.K. It’s not uncommon for retired folks to enjoy gardening or spending time on manicuring their lawns to perfection. Over the last ten years, John has taken on a different type of hobby that goes beyond general lawn care or gardening, though. It is more topiary art than anything.
Topiary art dates back to Roman times. It’s the practice of shaping and trimming shrubs or trees into ornamental shapes or forms. Some giant topiary gardens are just stunningly beautiful and intricate. Japanese Zen gardens are especially great examples of topiary art.
Mr. Brooker definitely does not live in Japan, but he decided to start some topiary art of his own anyway. After so many years of looking at a dull, straight-edged hedge bordering his house, the man decided to make a change. He got a ladder out and started trimming the top of the tall green hedges into flowing arches and curves.
After all the work, John thought to himself, “What am I going to do at the end? Gotta have a head on it.” He quickly decided the end would be a dragon. Now, ten years later, he has shaped his 150-foot-long hedge into an incredibly intricate giant green dragon.
Another impressive thing about it is that he did all of the work over these years by himself. (A good portion of the dragon was created from the top of a step ladder. That makes the hedge well over 6-feet tall in some areas.)
So, if you just happen to be driving around East Rudham in the U.K., don’t be shocked if you see a giant, 150-foot-long green dragon. It’s probably just John’s topiary art. In fact, stop by; John will be more than glad to proudly show off his hedge that is now the farthest thing from boring.
John’s dragon hedge shows some amazing talent; it’s not just a basic dragon shape. Without any major art training, the shapes and dimensions that this U.K. man created are truly remarkable.
