Meet the person behind the topiaries at Ladew Topiary Gardens

HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WHTM) – Just over an hour from Pennsylvania’s state capital is Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, Maryland, the only public topiary garden in the mid- Atlantic.

World Topiary Day, May 12, celebrates the history of topiary and those who create “green scenes.” Ladew Gardens horticulturist Abby Evans is one of those people.

“I love educating people about the science of gardening and topiary because it’s definitely an art form,” Evans said. “It’s sculpture. It’s a living sculpture.

Evans of Forest Hill, Md., grew up gardening. Her family owns a flower farm and her very first job, which she got before she even got her driver’s license, was at Longwood Gardens with her sister.

She worked in several different areas in Longwood before joining Babikow Greenhouses. When she turned 18, she started volunteering at Ladew.

“From there, I just progressed,” Evans said. “I had already done a few topiaries and then, as I gained confidence and knowledge, they said, ‘Why don’t you start taking more?’ Now I’m the one responsible for training and trimming.

Evans helps keep a legacy alive.

Ladew Gardens was founded by Harvey Smith Ladew. Ladew purchased the property in 1929 because he wanted to be close to the Elkridge Harford Hunt Club, which is next door.

Ladew used part of the property as a garden and kept the rest for a horse and dairy cattle farm. Evans said the property was self-sufficient and included an orchard and vegetable gardens.

“As his ideas developed, so did his gardens,” Evans said. “He traveled all over the world and brought back ideas (including for) topiaries. I would say for this area, he brought it – he brought that coverage. . . in this area. »

Today, Evans and his team of five other full-time staff members and six assistant horticulturists continue their vision for the land by maintaining existing topiaries and creating new ones.

“Some of them are almost 100 years old,” Evans said.

It can take a very long time before topiaries are considered “finished”, depending on the plant material used and the complexity of the scene. Evans noted that while some only take a few years to complete, others can take 10 to 12 years.

Evans’ favorite topiary in the garden is the hunting scene, which pays homage to Ladew’s hobby. One of the young dogs in this scene has been there for six years and has just gotten to the point where the frame is barely visible.

A lot of work goes into shaping and maintaining these topiaries. There are more than 100 “larger than life” models spread across the 22 acres of Ladew Gardens.

“It takes a lot of time and a lot of practice,” Evans said. “You need a good eye. You have to be relatively artistic and (have) great attention to detail.

Evans attributed his keen attention to detail to his six-month internship in Jerusalem at the Botanical Gardens. There she works with rare plants.

“I’m relatively detail-oriented, but collecting seeds from a plant that only has two of them gave me a lot of attention to detail that I didn’t know existed,” Evans said.

Besides the actual pruning, there is also the process of keeping the topiaries healthy. Staff must remove many large topiaries and crawl inside larger ones to clean out debris. They should also keep pests like red spider mites and fungi away.

“Because topiaries are pruned so often and so harshly, they are more stressed and therefore collect more insects,” Evans said.

According to Evans, the most physically difficult thing about the job is timing the obelisks. There, she must climb a 16-foot ladder and use large, long battery-powered shears.

Despite the challenges, Evans truly enjoys his job creating and maintaining topiaries.

“I love doing topiaries, I love pruning, I love weeding, I love watering, I love my job,” Evans said. “Cutting topiaries gives me a chance to be creative, to make sculptures.”

Evans’ favorite part, however, is the people she meets and the opportunity she has to educate them.

“There was this young kid, three years ago, I think he was 13,” Evans said. “He said, ‘I want to do that when I grow up.’ He just loved it. It’s just these little interactions that I love.

Evans said in recent years the garden has seen record numbers of visitors. They even had to build more paths to cope with this increase.

Evans recommends visitors come to Twilight Tuesdays at Ladew Gardens to see the topiary.

“Seeing the gardens during the day is lovely. . . but seeing them in the evening with soft evening light is just magical,” Evans said.