Flight of the topiaries
FOUR very big birds -- 17 feet long, 14 feet tall, with glass eyes larger than your palm -- have migrated to the new Westwind Park at Playa Vista, south of Marina del Rey.
Crafted of steel and shaped to resemble 6-inch-tall yellow-rumped warblers, the topiaries will be feathered by the grayish-green leaves of fruitless olive trees. The pieces are the work of Coburn Topiary & Garden Art, which has produced character topiaries for Disneylands in Anaheim and Hong Kong. “We’re trying to redefine what topiary is,” said Charles Coburn, who runs the San Diego County studio with wife Jennifer. “Instead of just having a green thing, we’re trying to make them living sculptures.”
For the record:
12:00 a.m. March 18, 2006 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday March 18, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 0 inches; 23 words Type of Material: Correction
Bird topiaries -- An article in Thursday’s Home about bird topiaries said yellow-rumped warblers were 6 inches tall. They are 6 inches long.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday March 23, 2006 Home Edition Home Part F Page 5 Features Desk 0 inches; 25 words Type of Material: Correction
Bird topiaries -- An article in last week’s Home section about bird topiaries said yellow-rumped warblers are 6 inches tall. They are 6 inches long.
Two giant steel birdhouses designed by the Collaborative West, a San Clemente landscape architecture firm, stand at both ends of the park. A nearby marsh has attracted about 180 species of birds, including great blue herons, egrets, coots and, yes, yellow-rumped warblers.
-- Martha Groves
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