# Who likes the "tortured bush" effect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** gardening\ **Created:** [December 3, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-likes-the-tortured-bush-effect/1011110 "2024-12-03T14:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-likes-the-tortured-bush-effect/1011110/21 "2024-12-08T12:13:57Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Risqué topiary might be fun in a relaxed setting Such as Staten Island… ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-likes-the-tortured-bush-effect/1011110/22 "2024-12-08T15:55:15Z")
I have a yew just outside my kitchen window. If it was allowed to grow as it likes, I wouldn’t be able to see anything. It gets a buzz cut once per year and then it’s allowed to grow up and out until the next year’s cut. Same thing for the laurel hedge, except I do a hand-pruning in June because it grows that much. Everything else is hand-pruned. For a big property, wild is better. But we have a small garden, and wild doesn’t look good for a small space. ---
**Author:** ![Allthegood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Allthegood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allthegood)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-likes-the-tortured-bush-effect/1011110/23 "2024-12-09T02:48:23Z")
That big deciduous tree is an old magnolia, probably a saucer magnolia. It was large when I moved in here 25 years ago. It’s lost a few branches over the years, to heavy, wet snowstorms and tropical storms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-likes-the-tortured-bush-effect/1011110.md?page=1)