Ladew Topiary Gardens are nonprofit gardens with topiary

Topiary

Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, perhaps geometric or fanciful; and the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. It can be...

 located at 3535 Jarrettsville Pike, Monkton, Maryland

Monkton, Maryland

Monkton is an unincorporated community in northern Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It has a population of about 4,856 people. It is in area, with approximately...

. The house and gardens are open April through October weekdays and weekends; an admission fee is charged. The gardens were established in the 1930s by socialite and huntsman Harvey S. Ladew

Harvey Ladew

Harvey Smith Ladew II was an American topiary enthusiast, and a fox hunting enthusiast, who created the Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, Maryland.-Biography:Ladew was born in New York City to Edward R. Ladew...

 (1887-1976), who in 1929 had bought a 250 acres (101.2 ha) farm to build his estate.

The grounds contain 15 garden rooms, each devoted to a single color, plant or theme, arranged around two cross axes with vistas. The axes meet in an oval swimming pool. The garden is particularly noted for its topiary

Topiary

Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, perhaps geometric or fanciful; and the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. It can be...

, which was strongly influenced by Ladew's extensive travel in England, where he frequently went fox hunting

Fox hunting

Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...

. Ladew designed topiaries depicting a fox hunt with horses, riders, dogs, and fox clearing a hedge, a Chinese junk

Junk (ship)

A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages...

 with sails, swans, and a giraffe, among others. It was proclaimed an "exquisite garden estate" by The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

. The Garden Club of America has described it as "the most outstanding topiary garden in America." The grounds also contain a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) nature walk.

The house was built in stages, starting in the late 18th century, with a mid-19th century addition and other additions in the 20th century. The oval library is particularly noteworthy, and has been called "one of the 100 most beautiful rooms in America". Both the grounds and house, which contains a good collection of antique English furniture, opened to the public in 1971.

External links

• Ladew Topiary Gardens
• Ladew Topiary Gardens and Ladew House, Harford County, including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust