English Yew Pom Pom Topiary Pair - Hale & Mercer

Pom pom pairs are sold by overall tree height, in bands from 90–110cm up to 1.7–2m. Match the height to the job rather than to the budget: 90cm–1.3m suits pots, courtyards and low walls, where the spheres sit at seated eye level; 1.3–1.5m is the comfortable middle for a standard frontage; 1.5–2m is the doorway and gateway band, where the top sphere lands near the head of the door and the pair reads as architecture rather than decoration. Remember that a taller pom pom is simply an older tree — more years of trunk-clearing and sphere-building behind it — so the upper bands arrive with denser globes and more branch character, and the price moves with the age rather than the postage.

Closely, because they were grown as twins rather than picked as a pair on dispatch day. We guarantee a height difference of no more than 10cm between them, and 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]”. Claims are resolved within 24 hours, with a replacement pair or a full refund, whichever you prefer.

Site first, looks second. Contemporary schemes — grey render, dark frames, gravel — suit Aero & Caelum, the blue Arizona cypress pair: steel-blue, happiest in full sun, and the entry point of the range. If the backdrop is dark brick or deep evergreen and wants lifting, Sol & Aurelia, the golden cypress pair, stays warm gold all winter and is brightest in full sun. For a sun-baked terrace, a gravel garden or a pair of pots, Selvi & Dorian, the Mediterranean olive pair, brings silver foliage on aged, characterful trunks and asks only for sharp winter drainage in return. And for shade, exposure or the long view, Hale & Mercer, the English yew pair, is the toughest and longest-lived of the four — and the only one that will regrow from old wood.

At a door or a gate, one tree each side, centred on the width available and clear of the door swing — the pair should frame the opening, never crowd it. Along a drive, path or terrace, leave roughly one tree's own width of air between pairs: close enough to read as a rhythm, far enough that each silhouette keeps its separations legible as the spheres fatten. Look up as well as along — the top sphere wants clear air above it, not the underside of a porch roof or a low branch. If you're unsure, email a photo of the spot to hello@topiarytwins.co.uk and we'll mark it up, or take the two-minute Entrance Edit and we'll suggest a layout for you.

Treat each sphere as its own small job: clip it round, step back, then move on to the next. The gaps between the globes are the form — let two spheres merge and the tree slides towards a blob; keep them separate and the silhouette reads as sculpture from across the street. Clear any shoots that appear on the bare branchwork between the spheres while you're there. Once or twice a year is plenty for the cypresses and the olive, and English yew asks for a single trim in late summer. One hard rule for the two cypresses: never cut back into bare wood, because conifer foliage will not regrow from it — stay within the green and trim little and often. There's a fuller walkthrough in our pom pom topiary guide.

Kerbside, on its own pallet, by a specialist plant haulier, UK-wide. Your two trees travel upright and are never boxed, the consignment is fully tracked, and the driver phones about an hour ahead so you can be there when he arrives. Allow 14–21 working days from order — the pair is being selected, photographed and documented during that window, not sitting in a warehouse. Delivery is to the kerb, so plan how you'll move two well-grown trees from the kerb to their position before the pallet lands.

Tell us early. The 6-Month Thrive Guarantee covers a plant that fails to thrive in its first six months: we replace it at 50% of the single-plant cost. Worked example — a £1,000 pair is £500 a plant, so your replacement costs £250. Email hello@topiarytwins.co.uk with the subject “Thrive Guarantee Claim – [order number]” and we review eligibility within 48 hours. One honest exclusion: if both plants fail, the guarantee doesn't apply, because two identical failures point at the site rather than the stock and a straight swap would only repeat it. That's precisely what Lifetime Care Support is for — unlimited email guidance from the growers, answered within 24 hours, free, forever, so we can fix the conditions instead.