Cloud pruning: how to shape hedges and shrubs in the Japanese niwaki style

At a glance: what you need before you start

What cloud pruning actually is

Cloud pruning, or niwaki in Japanese, is the practice of removing most of the foliage from a shrub or tree to expose the branch structure, then clipping the remaining clusters of foliage into rounded, cushion-like masses that suggest clouds resting on bare branches. The word niwaki translates loosely as "garden tree", and the technique has deep roots in Japanese garden design going back centuries.

In a British context, it is most often applied to yew, box or holly that has matured to the point where interesting branch structure exists beneath the outer foliage. The result is different from a ball or cone: the plant looks more sculptural, more individual, and it reads differently in winter when the branch architecture is exposed.

It is not something you do to a young hedge. Cloud pruning works on plants with a degree of maturity and an interesting natural branch structure. If you try to rush it on something without those qualities, you end up with a sparse-looking plant rather than a sculpted one.

Choosing the right plant

Yew (Taxus baccata)

The best all-round choice for cloud pruning in East Kent. Yew tolerates both the chalk soils around Sandwich, Deal and Sandwich Bay and the heavier clay around Worth, Woodnesborough and Ash. It grows slowly, holds a precise shape through winter, and responds from old wood, which matters when you are removing large amounts of growth. It can be hard-cut back to aged bare wood and will still shoot from it, a quality most other conifers do not share. The dark green foliage provides a strong contrast to the exposed dark-red-barked branches. One clip a year in late August or September is enough once the cloud shapes are established.

Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Slower to develop interesting branch structure than yew, but good for larger plants where branches have had years to develop texture and character. Holly's spiny leaves make it slower and more uncomfortable to work on, but the glossy dark leaves and, on female plants, the winter berries are a genuine bonus.

Japanese holly (Ilex crenata)

An increasingly popular box substitute in UK gardens since box blight and box tree moth started causing serious problems. The leaves are small and fine-textured like box, it does not suffer from either disease, and it clips well into tight cloud shapes. Growth is slightly slower than box, which is not necessarily a disadvantage when you are trying to maintain a precise shape.

Box (Buxus sempervirens)

The traditional choice and still excellent for cloud pruning when healthy. The caveat in East Kent gardens right now is that box blight and box tree moth are both well established in the area. If you already have healthy established box with good branch structure, it is worth maintaining it. Planting new box specifically for cloud pruning is a higher-risk decision; Japanese holly or yew are safer long-term bets. See our box blight guide for the current picture.

Before you start: safety

How to cloud-prune: a step-by-step

Step 1: Study the plant before you cut anything

Walk around the plant from every angle. Look for the main branches, where they divide, how the natural structure reads. Cloud pruning reveals and celebrates that structure; you need to understand it before you start removing foliage. Take your time here. A few minutes of observation saves a great deal of regret once cuts are made.

Step 2: Remove the dense internal mass

Using loppers and secateurs, begin removing foliage and smaller branches from the interior of the plant, working from the inside outward. The aim is to expose the main branch structure and separate the outer foliage masses so that each major branch has a distinct cluster of foliage at its tip. Do not take too much at once; remove a third and stand back to reassess before continuing.

Step 3: Identify your cloud positions

Each main branch should terminate in one "cloud", a distinct foliage mass. On a large plant you might have five or six clouds; on a small specimen, two or three. Look at the plant from your main viewing angle and decide which masses read well and which ones are obscuring others. Remove or cut back any growth that is confusing the picture.

Step 4: Shape the clouds with hand shears

Once the cloud positions are settled, use hand shears to clip each mass into a roughly rounded or cushion shape. Do not aim for perfection: slight asymmetry and variation between clouds looks more natural and is harder to get wrong. Work from the outer edge of each cloud inward, taking small amounts at a time, standing back frequently to check the result from the main viewing angle.

Step 5: Clean up and assess

Remove all the clippings and stand back to look at the finished plant from several angles and in different light. A freshly cloud-pruned plant looks more dramatic than it will in a few weeks once the fresh cuts soften: this is normal and part of the reason why experience with the technique takes time to develop. Note what worked and what you would adjust next year.

Maintaining cloud-pruned shapes

Once established, a cloud-pruned yew or holly needs one main clip a year, in late August or September, to neaten the cloud masses and remove any wayward shoots. The bare branch sections should not need any attention unless a branch dies or becomes damaged. Young shoots that push up from the branch sections should be rubbed off or cut back to keep the branch clean. This tidying is easier done little and often through the growing season than all at once in autumn.

Cloud pruning in East Kent gardens

Yew grows naturally on the chalk soils of the North Downs, and mature specimens in East Kent gardens often have the kind of rugged branching structure that responds beautifully to cloud pruning. The mild coastal winters around Sandwich and Deal mean yew is not regularly stressed by hard frost, so the plants are in generally good condition for this kind of work.

Cloud pruning is increasingly visible in formal front gardens in Sandwich town itself, where the architecture suits an architectural approach to planting. A single well-maintained cloud-pruned yew in a small front garden can be more interesting than a standard clipped hedge and requires no more annual time to maintain.

Video: "Stylish Pruning of Cloud Trees or Niwaki" by Herons Bonsai. Herons Bonsai is Britain's premier bonsai nursery, founded by Peter Chan MBE in 1986 and based in Newchapel, Surrey, with over half a million YouTube subscribers. Watch on YouTube.

Related guides