here is a link... im horrible with computers

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e76/darrinthephotographer/IMG_0543_zpscc22ae9a.jpg

Not certain from photo, but sure look like tightly sheared yaupon hollies (Ilex vomitoria). Pretty common treatment for this large shrub/small tree.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shaped Ilex vomitoria

can u use normal yaupons for this? i got tons in my woods...

You probably would be able to shape one from the woods. Really full yaupons would lend themselves to this type of pruning pretty easily. It may take a few years of growth and sun to fill in and look like your picture though.

Garden Web uses the html code from Photobucket, by the way, to insert your picture into a post.

I second pkponder - the natives in the local woods are essentially the same tough plant that should stand-up to reshaping well. Our neighbors recently did this to a male yaupon (no berries) on their lawn that had been left to return to its natural shrub form over the past 30 or so years. It's healthy and now looks similar to your photos, only much bigger; something like 12 ft tall and wide.

One other consideration is the maintenance effort. Yaupons want to be BIG plants. The neighbors are getting away with a major maintenance prune every couple years or so, but then they've trimmed it close to it's mature size. The work effort will go up according to how small you need or want to keep it and the shape complexity. Much of the ~8ft poodle/pompom yaupon topiary originally seen around our neighborhood was eventually removed or reshaped to much less labor intensive forms.

This post was edited by bostedo on Tue, Sep 3, 13 at 0:20