The Home and Garden Issue: Ladew Topiary Gardens Celebrates 50th Anniversary

March 12, 2021 Alan Feiler, Editor-in-Chief

Perennial Favorites: Restored in 2002, the Iris Garden is the largest garden at Ladew. It features an expansive collection of approximately 60 species of irises, as well as other perennials that surround a stream that descends to the koi pond and topiary junk boat below. (Photo by Helen Norman)

The spirit of spring blooms eternal, with hope as its message.

Now more than ever, the arrival of spring is the perfect antidote to, as the Immortal Bard put it, “the winter of our discontent.”

The need for diversions from a relentless pandemic and winter’s fury is crucial to our mental and physical wellbeing, and where better to turn than to Mother Nature.

Right here in our backyard is a perfect setting for such appreciation and contemplation — Ladew Topiary Gardens in Harford County.

Named the “most outstanding topiary garden in America” by no less than the Garden Club of America, the pristine and beguiling Ladew this year celebrates its 50th anniversary as a public garden.

Simply put, it is a rare gem in our midst.

The gardens sit on a former 250-acre farm acquired in 1929 by Harvey Smith Ladew, a Long Island, N.Y.-born socialite, huntsman and topiary enthusiast whose chums included Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein and Wallis Warfield Simpson.

For the uninitiated, topiary is an art form of clipping shrubs, trees or hedges into defined ornamental shapes, such as animals, furniture, sea vessels, people and geometric forms. Inspired by his extensive travels throughout England and Italy, Ladew designed and created a whimsical world of breathtaking “living sculptures.”

Garden lovers throughout the world came to see his topiary oasis, and Ladew’s friends often set up tables in the front yard and collected 75 cents from visitors to see his creations.

Fifty years ago, Ladew — who passed away in 1976 at age 89 — created Ladew Topiary Gardens Inc., a nonprofit mandated with preserving its namesake’s 22 acres of beautiful formal gardens and elegant, antiques-stuffed main house (a former rustic farmhouse dating back to the late 18th century).

Over the past half-century, Ladew Topiary Gardens has attracted 50,000 visitors annually who come to see its historic Manor House, Butterfly House and, of course, the award-winning gardens (which include more than 100 topiaries). Among the findings on the property are rare perennials, unusual small trees, specialty annuals, exotics and assorted statuary.

Ladew hosts more than 130 programs and events annually, ranging from the Garden Festival in May to concerts in the “Great Bowl” area throughout the summer, as well as a lecture series in the spring and fall, the annual Garden Glow fall festival, and children’s educational programming throughout the year. The educational programs serves thousands of visitors and address such issues as environmental science, interior design and horticulture in general. (Of course, the pandemic will likely impact plans for some of these programs this year.)

Ladew is the recipient of the prestigious “Top Five North American Gardens Worth Traveling For” award from the Canadian Garden Tourism Council, and was featured as one of “10 Incredible Topiary Gardens around the World” by Architectural Digest.

Both the Manor House and gardens are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Opening day for Ladew, located at 3535 Jarrettsville Pike, is April 1. For information, visit ladewgardens.com.

In our annual Home & Garden Issue, we welcome you to enjoy these images from Ladew Topiary Gardens, which remains a testament to the vision of its founder and a tribute to the enduring spirit of hope that is spring.