Delavay Privet Multi-Ball Topiary Pair - Orbis & Rondo

Two hand-matched multi-ball trees — each one straight stem carrying three graduated clipped balls, largest at the base, with clear stem showing between the tiers — in nursery pots sized to the plant. The charcoal planters in our photographs are there for styling: your pair arrives in its nursery pots, ready for planters of your choosing, or for planting straight into the ground in spring (March to April) or autumn (September to mid-October). Before dispatch you receive the pair's quality-control certificate; with the trees come a digital twins' certificate and grower-written care guidance for the species. The pair travels upright on its own pallet — no boxing, no bending — with free kerbside delivery to UK mainland addresses, so plan how you'll move two well-grown trees from the kerb to their spot before the pallet lands.

Without. Every height on these listings is the tree itself, measured from the compost surface to the top of the top ball — the pot is extra, so add your planter's height to see where the top tier will finally sit. The bands run from 90–110cm up to 170–200cm: Gold Rider comes in 90–110, 130–150 and 170–200cm; Thuja Smaragd in 110–130, 130–150 and 170–200cm; Delavay privet and Blue Arizona in 130–150, 150–170 and 170–200cm. Each ball is roughly 20–50cm across, in proportion to the height you choose, and the largest is always at the base.

By hand, tree against tree. Your two are selected for tier spacing, ball diameter, stem straightness and colour — the warmth of Gold Rider's gold, the depth of Thuja's green, the gloss of the privet, the blue of Arizona cypress — so the three tiers line up level across the pair and the balls graduate in step. Heights are guaranteed to differ by no more than 10cm. Before your pallet is built you receive your pair's quality-control certificate — origins, dimensions and six photographs of your actual two trees — with 24 hours to review before dispatch. If the pair that arrives still isn't right, email hello@topiarytwins.co.uk within 7 days of delivery with the subject “Matching Guarantee Claim – [order number]” and a photograph of the two together. Claims are resolved within 24 hours, with a replacement pair or a full refund, whichever you prefer.

The top. Start at the top ball and work down, going right round each ball as a sphere of its own, so the clippings fall clear of the tiers below instead of lodging in them. Trim lightly first, then closer. As you go, keep the graduation: the bottom ball stays the widest and the top ball never outgrows it, because a narrower top lets light reach the lower tiers — and shaded conifer foliage browns from the inside. Clip in late May and early August; after mid-August, put the shears away. On Gold Rider, Thuja Smaragd and Blue Arizona, never cut back into brown wood, which most conifers won't regrow from; privet is the forgiving one and reshoots even from bare wood. There's a full walkthrough of when and how to trim a ball-shaped plant in the journal.

Take them off as soon as you see them. Rub soft shoots away with a thumb, or snip woodier ones flush to the stem — there's no need to seal the cuts. Left to grow, they fill the clear stem between the tiers, and those gaps are the form: without them, three balls start to read as one lumpy column. The same goes for anything sprouting from the stem below the bottom ball. A look up and down each stem whenever you clip, in late May and early August, keeps the gaps clean.

Yes — with the right pot and a little routine. Size the container to the tree: a 120–160cm plant needs a 60–70cm container, and at any height a pot at least a third of the plant's height is an absolute minimum, not a target. Fill it with John Innes No. 3 and rely on the drainage holes rather than a layer of crocks, which only holds water above it. Water 2–3 times weekly through summer, for life, and give one spring application of slow-release feed. Top-dress every year and repot every 5 to 10 years, in March or April, led by the signs: roots through the drainage holes, water running straight through, growth stalling. Because a single stem carries three heads, weigh or anchor the pot against the wind, and we recommend keeping a permanent support stake, as for a lollipop standard. The container care and repotting guide has the detail.

Allow 14–21 working days from order, or 21–28 working days in peak season (February to May) — the pair is being selected, photographed and documented during that window, not sitting in a warehouse. Before dispatch you receive the quality-control certificate with six photographs of your actual trees and 24 hours to review it; if we don't hear from you, the pallet is built and dispatched. There's no tracking portal: you get a dispatch email with an estimated delivery date, we can give you a delivery window on request, and the driver phones about an hour before arrival. One tip: don't book a landscaper or contractor until the trees have actually arrived, because dates can move and we can't cover contractor costs if they do. The full terms are on our delivery and returns page.