'They’re closer to architecture than landscaping': inside Walt Disney World’s eight-month process to build EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival topiaries
"It takes close to eight months to produce the topiaries," explained Debbie Mola Mickler, area manager at Disney's Horticulture — for installations that were on display for just a few weeks.
On that clock, Disney's horticulture team is likely already deep into next year's lineup — even though this year's International Flower & Garden Festival at EPCOT only wrapped June 1. Mola Mickler oversees production of the living character sculptures that define the festival at Walt Disney World in Orlando. What look like decorative topiaries from a distance reveal themselves up close as something far more complex.
Underneath, engineered steel frames, a moss growth medium, and tightly integrated irrigation work together so that whether it's Mickey, Buzz, Lightning McQueen, or any other character, the topiary presents itself exactly as it should. They're closer to architecture than landscaping, and the timeline to build one reflects that.
That timeline starts long before...
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