Trees Magnific: Decorative plant life is turning heads on the Strip

Kristin Peterson

Monday, June 11, 2001 | 8:25 a.m.

For centuries flawlessly trimmed hedges and topiary have added structure and artistic flair to landscapes and gardens, while piquing curiosity among inquisitive observers.

So it was no surprise on a recent morning to see, near the driveway of Paris Las Vegas, two casually dressed tourists break from the heavy flow of foot traffic on the Strip to snap photos of tiny ornamental hedges encasing a bed of geraniums.

With the replica Eiffel Tower looming high above them, the Arc de Triomphe next to them and the Parisian-style fountains trickling behind them, the tourists were not alone in their appreciation of the small patterned garden to the side of the hotel.

Another man had stopped his car in a traffic lane, hopped out and took a couple photos of the small garden.

The boxwood hedges looping and curving around the geraniums are a quiet change from the explosive mixtures of palm trees, glittering lights and other plants bursting from Strip properties.

And with the addition of European-themed hotels in recent years on the Strip, such parterres (patterned gardens) have become more common at Strip properties, offering their distinguished presence poolside at Caesars Palace and on the grounds of Bellagio.

Reminiscent of the medieval herb gardens that evolved into more ornate European knot gardens (short hedges weaving across one another) the parterres and other topiary forms -- cones, animals (even motorcycles) and fervently pruned trees are an entertaining sight along the Strip.

But the amount of work that goes into sculpting and maintaining hedges for the passing throngs of tourists is a task almost as impressive as the green shapes themselves.

On the grounds of Caesars Palace (one of the first Las Vegas hotels to include formal gardens, including 781 feet of mature hedges near the hotel's entrance that have endured 30 years) there are more than five miles of impeccably trimmed hedges wrapping the walkways, driveways, fountains and sculptures.

And with the hotel's recent expansion, more trees and shrubs have been added.

"We're probably 90-percent hedges," Dale Wisniewski, director of horticulture at Caesars Palace, said. "Just about every square inch of this place is hedges.

"(But) that's part of the tradition of the Roman gardens."

There are 712 tall cypress trees demanding continual grooming and perfectly sculpted pompoms on olive trees that need to be retouched. Parterres and shrubs sculpted into cones decorate the pool area.

In all there are seven hedge varieties and numerous trees that a staff of 12 trim regularly, Wisniewski said.

Structure and accent

At the Flamingo Las Vegas, more than 800 pruned California Privet trees and 150 Carolina Laurel Cherry trees have been incorporated into the tropical garden that includes among other things, 2,500 palm trees.

Narrow winding walkways, lined with thick green hedges, weave through the garden that encompasses the hotel's pool and spa area and wedding chapel, and pour out onto a grassy lawn.

A family of Carolina Laurel Cherry trees, sculpted into perfect cones, hug one another along the path. California privet trees are trimmed into round balls and hedges add structure and boundaries to the garden. Lightly manicured star jasmine and dwarf mock-orange plants cover the ground.

Using only hand clippers, six gardners trim the trees and bushes. It takes two to three hours for one person to trim one tree, said John Carter, gardening supervisor. "And we trim everything. It's a continual process."

Three years ago George Leavitt began creating topiary animals in front of Bally's. He has about 28 animals dotting the garden below the centrally located moving walkway that leads from the Strip into the hotel's entrance.

His bushy, wire-framed animals include a teddy bear made from rosemary, pigs made from pyracantha and myrtus compacti, a dolphin and a seal and an assortment of animals sculpted from boxwood and pyracantha.

Additionally there are symmetrical patterns throughout the the garden and the words "Bally's" and "Welcome To Bally's" sculpted in boxwood.

The topiary is a more time consuming to maintain compared to attending to other plants on the property, Leavitt said. "If you lose a leg in one or a plant dies, you have a major problem.

"People vandalize the animals. I've even had a couple stolen. The come in the middle of the night and away they go."

Vandals have ripped the trunk off an elephant, ridden the horses and poured unwanted liquids onto the animals.

The recent marquee construction directly above the garden also leads to reconstructive of some of the animals, which are constantly being transplanted to stay out of harm's way, Leavitt said.

Other than that, "The rest is routine," he said. "Taking care of the plant is like taking care of any other plant."

The animals and hedges require trimming every 10 days, he said. Using grass shears he can quick-trim and animal topiary in 30 minutes. The "Welcome to Bally's" design sign takes him a day and a half.

Fringe benefits

But some will say that the work Leavitt and other local gardeners at Strip resorts put into their hedges goes beyond serving ornamental and utilitarian purposes.

Sculpted hedges and ornamental shrubs in formal gardens provide a sense of structure and can reduce stress, said Pat Hammer, owner of Samia Rose Topiary in Encinitas, Calif., and author of the book, "The New Topiary" (Garden Art Press, 1991).

"If you walk into a formal garden where the garden is supported by trimmed hedges, it feels more comfortable," she said. "It feels like your world is in control."

She compares it to walking into a home or office that is tidy.

"Order makes people feel good," Hammer said. "Now more than ever we need to have that."

Even the parterres on the swath of lawn near the entrance to Paris Las Vegas can offer serenity among chaos, Hammer said.

Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs, president of Lifescapes International, the Newport Beach, Calif., company that designed the grounds at Bellagio and other Strip resorts, said that the hedges and topiary around the Bellagio pool were placed specifically to encourage strolling.

Potted topiaries dot the perimeter of the pool and tall hedges create walls to enclose smaller pool areas.

"It's a nice place to wander," Brinkerhoff-Jacobs said. "It helps provide definition for strolling."

And the parterres, modeled after Italian-theme gardens, that line the entrance to the pool area and the hotel have a calming effect, she said.

"Just by their very structure they tend to make your mind focus on form and for some reason they tend to calm people down."

"(Gardens) come in all shapes and sizes," Brinkerhoff-Jacobs added. "What's wonderful about having so many distinctive gardens (in Las Vegas) is having wonderful opportunities to explore."

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