Getting Started

This simple and inexpensive ivy topiary begins with an inverted tomato cage and is completed by adding a spray-painted ping-pong ball on top.

• Tomato cage (18 to 24 inches)
• Ping-pong ball
• Matte silver spray paint
• 14-gauge wire
• 'Baltica' English ivy

1. Start with the smallest tomato cage you can find (usually 2 feet tall). Invert it and twist wire around the top ends to secure it in a cone shape.

2. Spray-paint a ping-pong ball with matte silver paint. Poke a hole in the ball with a screwdriver and place the ball atop the topiary. (Another alternative to the ping-pong ball: drapery finials.)

3. Place a pot of ivy inside the inverted cage and start the trailing stems up the sides of the cage. You can run additional wire down the sides of the cage to help the ivy fill in faster. This topiary is Hedera helix 'Baltica' (English ivy), which is hardy in zones 5-10.