Collection Multi-ball topiary
Form Three tiers, one stem
Sold as Matched pairs
From £325 the pair
Multi-Ball Topiary — Matched Pairs
Three spheres, one stem. Then its twin.
Sold in the UK as 3 ball, triple ball or ball-stack topiary, a multi-ball tree is a single straight stem carrying three graduated clipped balls stacked one above the other, largest at the base, with clear stem showing between each tier. Every listing a true matched pair.
Matched pairs from £325 · free kerbside delivery, UK mainland
How to chooseThree tiers.Three questions.
Answer these and the collection narrows to your pair.
What makes it a multi-ball?
One straight stem and three clipped balls, stacked from the largest at the base to the smallest at the top, with clear stem showing between each tier. Every part of that matters: the graduation lets light reach the lowest ball, and the gaps keep three spheres reading as three rather than one lumpy column. UK nurseries sell the form as 3 ball, triple ball or ball-stack topiary (in the US it is sometimes called a poodle); here it is the Multi-Ball, and it always comes as a hand-matched pair.
How does size work?
Pairs run from 90–110cm up to 170–200cm, measured from the compost surface to the top of the top ball, pot not included — so every tree stands taller once it is potted. Each ball is roughly 20–50cm across, scaled to the size you choose. Size to the opening rather than the budget: the 170–200cm pairs hold their own beside double doors and tall porches, while the smaller bands suit a single door, a gate or a step. For the pot, a 120–160cm plant wants a 60–70cm container.
Which species for which site?
Full sun and warm brick favour Gold Rider, whose gold is brightest in sun. Cold or exposed gardens favour Thuja Smaragd, which holds its emerald through winter without bronzing. Gravel, sun and free drainage suit the cool blue-green of Blue Arizona. And a sheltered courtyard or formal garden room is where Delavay privet shows its gloss. The chooser further down sets all four side by side.
Where three tiersearn their keep.
Three deployments. One pinned frame. Scroll.
Image 01
Image 02
Image 03
The front door, with height
A ball pair sits low and a lollipop lifts a single head; a multi-ball pair frames the full height of the doorway, three tiers a side rising from the step to eye level. Set each pot so its edge is at least 60cm from the door frame — 70–80cm is comfortable — and the pair reads as architecture from the day the pallet arrives. The entrance collection is built around exactly this move.
Gateways, paths & drives
The tiered silhouette reads clearly at distance, which makes a pair the natural marker for a garden gate, the start of a path or the mouth of a drive. Gold Rider holds a glow at three heights even on a grey morning; Thuja Smaragd keeps its emerald through every season. The driveways & pathways collection carries the scale for longer runs.
Terraces & contemporary planters
Against glass, render and pale stone, three crisp spheres on a clean stem read as modern rather than period — a sculptural alternative to a standard lollipop, with more presence per stem. In a pot, use John Innes No. 3, water 2–3 times a week through summer and give one slow-release feed each spring; the pots guide covers the rest.
Four multi-ball pairs.Every price, honest.
Every pair in the range — matched-pair RRPs including VAT, banded by height.
N° 01
Solis & Lumen — luminous gold-green, brightest in full sun.
£325 – £615 · 90–200cm
N° 03
Nimbus & Azure — cool blue-green, fine and aromatic.
£565 – £845 · 130–200cm
N° 04
Orbis & Rondo — small glossy leaves, the most forgiving clip.
£590 – £1,070 · 130–200cm
Drag · Scroll
The range runs £325 – £1,070 the pair, with Gold Rider's 90–110cm pair opening it at £325. Around the pairs: single shaped plants from £80 and clipped border edging from £275 per metre. The wider market logic is in the topiary prices guide.
Every pair travels upright on a pallet — no boxing, no bending — with free kerbside delivery to UK mainland addresses in 14–21 working days (21–28 in peak season, February to May). Before dispatch you receive a quality-control certificate with six photographs of your actual plants and a 24-hour review window; after dispatch, an email with an estimated delivery date, and the driver calls about an hour before arrival. The detail is at delivery & returns.
Pick by site first.Then by colour.
Same three tiers, four personalities — your position rules out more candidates than taste should.
Full Sun & Warm Brick
Luminous gold-green that is brightest in full sun and deepens to old gold in winter — it lifts dark brick, render and painted timber. Fast and vigorous, hardy to −15 to −20°C; never cut back into brown wood.
Cold & Exposed
Thuja Smaragd
Emerald green that holds its colour through winter without bronzing, and slow-to-moderate growth that keeps the tiers neat between clips. Hardy to −15 to −20°C — the pick where other evergreens sulk.
Gravel, Sun & Drainage
Cool blue-green, fine and aromatic — the contrast that makes warm brick and timber glow. Drought-tolerant once established and happiest running slightly dry: give it a pot that drains freely and shelter from cold, drying winds.
Sheltered & Formal
Small glossy leaves and the most forgiving clip of the four: privet regrows fast, even from bare wood, and can take a light third clip in late June. It thrives with a little shelter — hardy to −10 to −12°C, and any leaf drop in a hard winter recovers in spring.
Prefer one head on a clear stem? That is the lollipop collection. The sphere without a stem lives in topiary balls, and three to seven spheres on open branchwork are the pom poms. Three balls on three separate stems is multi-stem topiary. Still weighing it up? The Entrance Edit matches a pair to your doorway, light and scale in two minutes.
Image 04
Selected together · matched tier for tier · photographed before dispatch
Buying multi-ball topiary.Quick answers.
The questions buyers actually ask, answered by the growers.
What is a multi-ball topiary tree?
A multi-ball topiary tree — sold in the UK as 3 ball, triple ball or ball-stack topiary — is a single straight stem carrying three graduated clipped balls stacked one above the other, largest at the base, with clear stem showing between each tier. Each of the three balls is clipped as its own sphere, so the tree reads as three distinct shapes on one line rather than one tall mass. Ours come as true matched pairs, in four evergreen species.
How is a multi-ball tree different from a lollipop or a pom pom?
A lollipop carries one clipped head on a clear stem. A pom pom, as we grow it, carries three to seven spheres spread across an open, branching framework. A multi-ball keeps to one vertical stem and stacks exactly three graduated balls along it, largest at the bottom — the most architectural of the three. A plain topiary ball has no clear stem at all.
What does a multi-ball pair cost at each height?
Every price here is the RRP for the matched pair, including VAT. Gold Rider (Solis & Lumen): 90–110cm £325, 130–150cm £430, 170–200cm £615. Thuja Smaragd (Emero & Viridi): 110–130cm £350, 130–150cm £460, 170–200cm £680. Blue Arizona (Nimbus & Azure): 130–150cm £565, 150–170cm £630, 170–200cm £845. Delavay privet (Orbis & Rondo): 130–150cm £590, 150–170cm £1,015, 170–200cm £1,070. The range runs £325–£1,070 the pair.
Which evergreens do you grow as multi-ball topiary?
Four. Gold Rider Leylandii, a luminous gold-green at its brightest in full sun; Thuja Smaragd, an emerald green that holds its colour through winter without bronzing; Delavay privet, with small glossy leaves, fast growth and the most forgiving clip; and Blue Arizona cypress, a cool blue-green that is drought-tolerant once established. The chooser above matches each one to a site.
How tall are multi-ball trees, and how big is each ball?
Heights run from 90–110cm, Gold Rider's smallest size, to 170–200cm, which all four species offer. Height is measured from the compost surface to the top of the top ball, not including the pot. Each ball is roughly 20–50cm across depending on species and size, graduating from the largest at the base to the smallest at the top.
How do you clip a tree with three stacked balls?
Treat each ball as its own sphere and work from the top ball down, so clippings fall clear of the tiers below. Keep the bottom ball the widest, so light reaches every tier, and snip off any shoots on the bare stem between the balls as they appear. Clip in late May and early August, and put the shears away after mid-August. On the three conifers — Gold Rider, Thuja and Blue Arizona — never cut back into brown wood, because it will not regrow; privet forgives a harder cut. The pruning & trimming guide covers the technique.
Will a multi-ball tree cope with a British winter?
Yes, with the right species in the right place. Gold Rider and Thuja Smaragd are hardy to −15 to −20°C, and Delavay privet to −10 to −12°C; Blue Arizona asks above all for a pot that drains freely and shelter from cold, drying winds. In pots, check weekly through winter and water only if the compost is dry at 5cm. In northern England and Scotland, wrap every pot each winter; in the Midlands and the south, wrap privet and terracotta pots when below about −8°C is forecast. The winter protection guide has the method.
Matched beforeyou ever see it.
Two stems, six spheres, selected together and matched tier for tier — so the symmetry at your door is grown, not approximate.
A quality-control certificate with six photographs of your actual pair, then a 24-hour review window before the pallet leaves.
Matched to within 10cm under the 7-day Matching Guarantee, then the 6-month Thrive Guarantee through establishment.
Lifetime Care Support — a photo gets grower answers for as long as you own the plants.
