Ladew Topiary Gardens
In 1929, Harvey Ladew began this whimsical topiary garden on land he originally bought to use as an area for hunting and horseback riding. Just beyond the entrance, a hunter, a fox and hounds--all carved from English yew--greet visitors and immediately showcase Ladew's passion for the sport as well as his sense of storytelling. The rest of the garden is constructed with an artist's eye for design, and stunning topiaries in all sorts of shapes and designs dot the landscape.
Although the garden contains an abundance of topiaries, visitors can expect to be transported to an English country garden in the area referred to as the "great bowl," located in the back of the garden. Rose gardens, water ponds and even a swimming pool offer beautiful surprises that can be viewed from windows carved in the huge Canadian hemlock hedges used to create the bowl. This area also contains a teahouse with an unexpected history: originally a ticket booth at a theatre in London, Ladew rescued the structure when the theatre was destroyed and brought it to his estate for use in the garden.
King Garden
Created one wheelbarrow at a time over a 15-year period, the secret garden of Ann and Sydney King is truly a surprise. In fact, unless you're invited into the front door, you never know this garden exists. Built behind and below their house, the deepest point of the garden is 60 feet below the living room. The garden is on a steep incline and nestled in a forest, so plants grown here are of the shade-loving variety: green, textured leaves and gold blooms create visual interest. Ann proudly shows guests her 55-foot climbing hydrangea and proclaims that it's still growing strong.
Sydney's favorite focal point is the manmade stream created by a series of small dams. He says everyone wants to know where he acquired the rocks used to build the dams, and he especially likes giving an unexpected answer: these aren't rocks at all. Rather, 350 unopened bags of ready-mixed concrete comprise the tiered dams. Not everything in the garden was brought in or created by the Kings, however. Christmas ferns have grown here for ages, and the Kings are pleased to incorporate them into this secret garden.
Evergreen House
Begun in 1850, the garden at Evergreen House reflects the style of Old Baltimore as well as today's more modern garden art. A prosperous railroad family, the Garretts, purchased the home in 1878 and added their own special touch by purchasing plants from around the world. The front of the garden boasts a colorful dwarf Japanese maple tree, and the garden was known in earlier days for its seven greenhouses filled with exotic plant species. Although the exotic plants were beautiful, high maintenance costs forced the owners to cease their purchases abroad and change the focus of the garden. A grove of Japanese maples still stands, but the garden now has an Italianate feel and is bordered by boxwoods.
Steps leading down from the grove of red-leaf maples take visitors to an Adirondack bridge that was built using an old photograph as the model. Past the bridge, a friendship garden created by the elder Mrs. Garrett still stands surrounded by ivy-covered bricks. According to groundskeepers, Mrs. Garrett asked her friends for clippings from their gardens when she saw plants she liked, then created the serene garden from the clippings. Just beyond the friendship garden, more surprises await in the form of modern architecture formed from found objects. Many of the sculptures are shaped like animals and are so lifelike they even fool the gardener's dog! Evergreen House and its garden offer a sanctuary from busy city life and a way to reconnect with Old Baltimore.
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