Patricia Eckels is sharing photos of one of the most extraordinary gardens in the United States today, which was created by Pearl Fryar, an entirely self-taught sculptor of trees.
The Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden in Bishopville, South Carolina, is a 3-acre garden with 400 sculpted, trimmed, and shaped shrubs, trees, and plants. Mr. Fryar has been working on the topiaries for 20 years. He is now is his 80s, his health has been declining, and he is unable to keep up with his garden. Several organizations are working together to provide grants to preserve Fryar’s life work. People from the community have gotten together to weed, trim, and do everything they can. The only thing they can’t do is reach the high trees. They need a lift to do that and don’t have one as of today. Hopefully, they will be able to keep Mr. Fryar’s gardens beautiful with help.
A sign welcomes you to the garden.
The sheer number of intricately shaped shrubs is almost overwhelming.
Pearl Fryar’s wild creativity is evident everywhere you look in the garden.
It’s hard to imagine how much time it must take to keep all of these shrubs perfectly pruned.
It is easy to see why the garden needs a lift in order to maintain some of the tallest topiary sculptures.
I love the way the shrubs are shaped so that they almost seem to ripple and move
Topiary is a very old art developed in European gardens, but Pearl Fryar has a unique take on it, creating forms like this that are utterly different than the traditional shapes used in topiary gardens.
Some of the shrubs look almost like mythical animals inhabiting the garden. I hope this incredible garden can be preserved!
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