Pearl Fryar's Topiary Garden: A Cut Above Average

By Marie Hofer

Garden for yourself. "A lot of people don't garden for themselves. They garden for other people. I want something unique, and I don't worry what people say about it. A garden may be the best garden in the world, and people may still criticize it, so why not do what you want to do?"

Do your own thing. "If you're going to create your own garden, it's best not to copy [the plan] out of a magazine," says Fryar, "because you're not going to get credit for it."

And, by the way, Fryar did earn that yard-of-the-month award.