Last Friday my husband took the day off and we traveled north east of Baltimore to Monkton, MD to tour the beautiful Ladew Topiary Gardens. This is a beautiful estate situated on the rolling hills of Maryland's horse country. It's got 22 acres of carefully manicured topiaries which are divided into several different garden "rooms" and sections. There's a manor home, a butterfly house, a nature walk, a cafe and gift shop, and enough beautiful gardens to stroll all day. I loved our day there, and am looking forward to going back in other times during the gardening seasons.
Here's a link to their garden map, showing all the different sections that are open for touring.
The owner of the estate, the man who built the gardens, Harvey Ladew, was a rich bachelor who had a variety of interests and several homes around the country. Here at this estate, he lived next door to the Maryland Hunt Club and was active in the fox hunting scene. Ladew Topiary Gardens has a signature topiary depicting a fox hunt, below. It includes a horse and rider clearing a fence, a pack of hounds, and the fox running ahead of the rest, into the woods.
Horse and rider jumping the fence behind the hounds |
The fox escapes through the woods just on the left of the photo |
The grounds near the manor home are divided into terraces and garden rooms by an intricate system of tall hedges that have been shaped like fortress walls. The walls are complete with windows to allow views from one terrace to the next.
There's an intricate carving of garlands decorating the hedges in several of the rooms.
Viewed from afar, the terraces and hedges form an impressive collection of walls and peaks.
Here's an example of some topiaries currently under construction. This will form a part of one of the walls. You can see the steel girders that help provide support and structure to the large plants as they grow and are trimmed into shape.
Here are a couple more examples of how topiary structures support the plants. First a pyramid shape (this one is about 20 ft tall at its peak).
This one will be an intricate Japanese pagoda shape when it's done. It's also about 20 ft tall.
Some other areas in the garden are more fanciful... these in the sculpture garden remind me of a stack of tea cups and saucers, or stacks of china bowls.
Here's an impressive view of the terraces, taken from across the great lawn.
I didn't take photos of all the topiaries, or even of all of the different garden rooms. Frankly, it was a bit overwhelming! So much to see, so many ideas to take in, so many beautiful views and vignettes. I did find a few favorite areas, though, and lots of ideas for plants that we might want to try in our garden at home.
I think my very favorite section of the whole property was the pink garden. In comparison to the rest of the property, it was relatively small - just one winding path with garden borders on either side. But it had a feel to it that most closely matched what I'd like to achieve at our home - lush, dense, traditional perennial border with a fair amount of plant repetition, great contrast of color and form.
Another favorite spot in the gardens was the Cottage Garden. It's a small area, only about 20' by 20', in front of an old home on the property. I loved this spot because it's more wild and rambly, more like an English cottage garden feel. I loved all the purple and pink Rocket Larkspurs in this garden, they've inspired me to try those at home next year. I loved the surprise element of the sunflowers sprinkled throughout, and the surprise of the various dark red grasses and foliage that punctuated the greenery.
Throughout our tour, I found several plants that I'd like to investigate for having in our own garden at home. Here are some of those:
Oakleaf hydrangea |
Rocket Larkspur |
Unknown? |
I couldn't find a marker for this last one - it was a beautiful bright chartreuse color, with spikes of purple flowers. My garden identifier app didn't come up with an answer... do you know what this plant might be?
I could keep adding photos for a long time... but I think I'll stop here. If you live within a few hours of northeastern Maryland, I recommend you take a tour of this beautiful garden. You won't regret it!
Thank you for joining me here today - please leave a comment to say hello!
I love touring public gardens, but I'm also happy we don't have to drive far from home to find pretty blooms to look at. Take a peek at what's blooming at Harmony Hills in July 2016:
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