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Costa Rica's Señor Scissorhands

By John Burnett

Published February 2, 2008 9:46 AM

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Correspondent John Burnett was on assignment in Costa Rica late last year when he happened upon a most unusual garden, and the gardener who had the inspiration. He filed this reporter's notebook:

It was 10 years ago when I first visited the highland town of Zarcero, in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica, with my wife, Ginny, and our children, Willie, Grant and Helen.

Sixteen double-arch topiaries line the walk to Iglesias de San Rafael in Zarcero, Costa Rica.(John Burnett/NPR)

We had come to see the famed topiary garden in front of the pink and blue Iglesia de San Rafael.

The kids were enraptured, racing around the more than a hundred juniper bushes sculpted and clipped into whimsical shapes.

When I returned in November, just as before, the gardener sauntered out of the groundskeeper's house with a welcoming grin.

Evangelista Blanco Brenes — a dapper man with a mustache, a fedora and a pair of hedge clippers — created his fanciful garden in 1964, and he's been expanding it for the past 44 years.

There are more than 100 topiaries at the Church of San Rafael in Zarcero, Costa Rica. They take on many shapes — a dinosaur, an octopus and Christ carrying a cross. The man who created the park 40 years ago, Evangelista Blanco Brenes, still trims the bushes.(John Burnett/NPR)

He delights in taking a visitor on a tour, pointing out the giant rabbit, the helicopter, the airplane, the baskets, the monkey on a motorcycle, the dancing couple.

There's a peacock, a dinosaur, an octopus, strange masks, Christ carrying a cross, and an oxcart — the Costa Rican national symbol. The local favorites are the 16 growing green arches leading to the Catholic church. His living sculptures require constant trimming. The snipping releases a wonderful fresh evergreen scent.

Brenes started creating the topiaries in 1964 and has lovingly maintained them ever since.(John Burnett/NPR)

"It's so much, it takes a month to trim them all," he says, "and when I'm finished, it's time to start over."

He says he gets his brother, Benedicto, to help him.

Fanciful mask cut out of juniper bush in topiary garden, Zarcero, Costa Rica.(John Burnett/NPR)

Topiary has been around since the time of Julius Caesar, reaching its zenith in English gardens, where shrubs were pruned into architectural shapes.

With the eccentric topiary garden of Zarcero, the 64-year-old Blanco has found his life's calling, and his medium for sharing his philosophy.

Scattered between the green shapes are hand-lettered signs:

—"Persevere and you shall succeed."

—"No one is better than another."

—"Dedicate yourself to love and peace."

I'll suggest another aphorism: "If you let your mind wander, keep your hedge clippers sharpened."

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View Transcript

JOHN BURNETT: It was 10 years ago when I first visited the highland town of Zarcero, in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica, with my wife, Ginny, and our children, Willie, Grant and Helen. We'd come to see the famed topiary garden in front of the pink and blue Iglesia de San Rafael. The kids were enraptured, racing around the more than a hundred juniper bushes sculpted and clipped into whimsical shapes.

When I returned last November, just as before the gardener sauntered out of the groundskeeper's house with a welcoming grin.

Mr. EVANGELISTA BLANCO BRENES (Gardener): (Spanish spoken)

BURNETT: Evangelista Blanco Brenes - 64 years old, a dapper man with a mustache, a fedora and a pair of hedge clippers - created this fanciful garden in 1964, and he's been expanding it for the last 44 years.

Mr. BRENES: (Spanish spoken)

BURNETT: He points out the giant rabbit, the helicopter, the airplane, the baskets, the monkey on a motorcycle, and the dancing couple.

I also see a peacock, a dinosaur, an octopus, strange masks, Christ carrying a cross, and an oxcart - the Costa Rican national symbol. The local favorites are the 16 growing green arches leading to the Catholic church.

(Soundbite of hedge clippers)

BURNETT: The living sculptures require constant trimming. The snipping releases a wonderful fresh evergreen scent.

Mr. BRENES: (Spanish spoken)

BURNETT: It's so much, it takes a month to trim them all, he says. And when I'm finished, it's time to start over.

Topiary has been around since the time of Julius Caesar, reaching its zenith in English gardens, where shrubs were pruned into architectural shapes. With the eccentric topiary garden of Zarcero, Evangelista Blanco has found his life's calling and a medium for his philosophy. He has placed hand-lettered signs between the bushes.

Mr. BRENES: (Spanish spoken)

BURNETT: Persevere and you shall succeed. No one is better than another. Dedicate yourself to love and peace.

I'll suggest another aphorism: If you let your mind wander, keep your hedge clippers sharpened.

SIMON: Come to our Web site, npr.org, to see pictures. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Source: NPR