How To Grow Ivy (Hedera spp.) Indoors

Ivy is one of the most adaptable plants that can be grown indoors. For some plant enthusiasts, indoors might be the best place for it.

A matter of perspective

Let’s face it. Ivy can be a wonderful ground cover, or the bane of one’s existence. It depends on perspective. When I refer to Ivy, I’m speaking of the Hedera species. These include Algerian Ivy (H. algeriensis, aka H. canariensis), Persian Ivy (H. colchica), English Ivy (H. helix), Irish Ivy (H. hibernica), Nepal Ivy (H. nepalensis), Russian ivy (H. pastuchovii), and Japanese ivy (H. rhombea). Of these, the first three species are most readily available. Within the species, there are several varieties each.

What’s good about it?

Ivy is known for glossy green foliage, few maintenance requirements, drought tolerance, climate adaptability, deer resistance, pest resistance and ground cover potential. It’s hard to kill. Ivy does what a ground cover is supposed to do; it covers ground. For those reasons, English Ivy was brought from Europe by early settlers. Though it’s ubiquitous, it’s not native to these shores.

What’s not good about it?

That Hedera is such a tough plant – i.e. it’s hard to kill – along with its ground cover potential can make it undesirable. But let’s get this straight; English ivy does not kill trees. It is not parasitic. However, the sheer weight of ivy in a tree that is dead or dying can certainly bring it down.

Enjoy ivy indoors

If you want to enjoy the best of ivy’s attributes and avoid its liabilities, grow it indoors as a houseplant. It’s not difficult to do if you meet its basic needs.

• Bright light. Hedera species need plenty of light, though not necessarily full sun. Windows facing any direction will work, though you might want to draw your plants away from direct sun. Not that ivy can’t take it outdoors, but plants grown indoors tend to lose some of their ability to withstand harsh sunlight. If grown in too little light, plants tend to get “leggy.”
• Appropriate moisture. Ivy does not like wet soil. If soil is constantly wet, your plants will rot. Allow your plants to dry between watering. The pot should provide excellent drainage.
• Fertilizer. Use a slow-release or water-soluble fertilizer once per month during the growing season, e.g. spring through summer. Follow label instructions.
• Good hygiene. Remove dust from foliage with occasional wiping or brief showers. This will also help prevent any pests that might come along. If grown outdoors, occasional rains will wash dust and insects from the leaves. When grown indoors, you’ll have to do the part.

There are very many varieties among the Hedera species. Characteristics include variegation, fancy leaves, and even slower growth rates. Check GoGardenNow.com for some of them. You can also inquire of the American Ivy Society for some of the more unusual varieties.

Indoor ivies are very decorative as topiaries or trailing from containers. The smaller, fancy-leaf varieties are best for topiaries. Growing ivy indoors can become a very rewarding hobby for those of us who just can’t get enough of plants.

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The Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, Bishopville, SC

Mr. Pearl Fryar with the author

The Man

A visit to Pearl Fryar's topiary garden is not complete without a visit with Mr. Pearl Fryar himself. He is a "people person" with a positive attitude. Like other home gardens, his is a reflection of his own creativity, ingenuity and personal philosophy.

The Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden is located in Mr. Pearl's yard and adjacent lot in what might otherwise be a typical suburban neighborhood in Bishopville, SC. Before visiting in late December, we understood that visitors are welcome to stroll about the property so long as they respect the Fryar's privacy and don't inconvenience the neighbors. We were strolling about when Mr. Pearl arrived from running errands, parked his car, got into his Gator utility vehicle and pulled around to greet us. He introduced himself as the man "who created this monster."

Mr. Pearl Fryar

The average homeowner who is loath to prune his shrubs more than once a summer would agree that Mr. Pearl's yard is, indeed, a demanding beast. All topiaries are pruned every four to six weeks, inspected more frequently, and it seems that every living plant is topiaried. But this has been his pet project for over 30 years, and he has no plans to give it up.

Foundation plants. Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, Bishopville, SC

Though he itched to do something creative, Mr. Fryar was employed in a mundane business to provide for his family. Eventually he established this home when it was in "nothing but a corn field", and began landscaping. That's when he began to carve a niche for himself. In fact, his creative self began cutting lots of fantastic niches in his shrubs and trees.

Fantastic topiary forms. Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, Bishopville, SC

Mr. Pearl acquires most of his plants from local nurseries, but seldom pays full price. Here in the south, nurseries tend to pitch the remains of diseased, damaged and dying plants onto piles at the edge of the woods. That's where he looks. Then Mr. Pearl brings some home, nurses them to health, and turns them into something unique. Rather than yank out the annoying "volunteers" that spring up in his garden, he lets them flourish and turns them into topiaries, too. He prefers to work with plants proven to succeed in the Deep South, but isn't afraid to experiment with plants such as Weeping Blue Atlas Cedars (Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca Pendula') and Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca) that aren't supposed to do around here.

Visitors kiosk. Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden

Pearl Fryar's creative streak doesn't end with topiaried plants. He also fashions wonderful "junk art" sculptures and features them in his garden. The first one we noticed was an embellished barrel near the street that silently begged me to open it and explore. Inside were garden brochures and a jar for visitors to deposit donations. Mr. Pearl operates on the "honor system", expecting donations to stay in the jar until he gets around to emptying it. I took a brochure.

His sculptures are made of scrap metal left over from industries and stuff he scrounges from junk yards. Many of them were designed with interchangeable parts that he can pop off from one and replace on another creating a slightly different look. Some are fountains, some have messages welded on, one celebrates music, some mean nothing at all. Noting that "junk art" has become popular among collectors, Mr. Pearl doesn't sell them, though people have begged him. He said it takes too long to make one, so doesn't want to be bothered replacing them.

Many of us can understand and identify with Mr. Pearl's life story. As a little boy, he liked messing with things and being creative. He took academic achievement tests with mediocre results, but, he explained, tests don't measure creativity and passion, so he just got on with life doing what he had to do. He didn't do what he really wanted to do until he had enough money and the time to get on with it. That's when he started "cuttin' bushes" because he wanted to win a local "Yard Of The Month" contest.

Free-form topiary sculptures, traditional clover leaf and fountain.

When you're cuttin' bushes, you have time to think. Reflecting on his experience, Pearl Fryar considered that there are lots of young people who are just as he was. Because they don't test well, their callings in life elude them. Face it, academic scholarships go to the highest academic achievers. The rest either trudge along or give up. He decided he could try to help. So, he established a charitable organization to grant scholarships to "C-students" who exhibit creativity and gumption, attend a local technical college, and commit themselves to succeeding.

After awhile, people began to notice his works. The word spread near and far. Mr. Fryar has been given the ceremonial keys to three cities. Two separate days have been declared Pearl Fryar Day (once by the SC House of Representatives and once by the Mayor of Bishopville). He has won numerous awards for accomplishments, been featured in publications such as The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine, twice in the Charlotte Observer, Guideposts magazine, National Geographic and the local Lee County Observer, and on Martha Stewart's show.

A documentary movie, A Man Named Pearl, was released in 2006 to critical acclaim, and has been shown many times nationally. But, you gotta know, pearls can be overlooked even in their hometowns. Mr. Pearl told us about a young lady, a native of Bishopville living way across the country, who saw the documentary and called her mother in Bishopville to tell her about it. "Oh, Dear, you must be mistaken. There's nothing like that here in Bishopville." Well, the young lady flew more than a couple thousand miles to visit and show her mom Pearl Fryar's famous topiary garden nearly around the corner.

Mr. Pearl has been invited to speak to plantspeople at important venues around the country. He is amused that he often shares the stage with professional horticulturists. Though he claims he don't know nothing about plants, he once spoke at such an event at Harvard University. "They wouldn't even let me in there academically, but they invited me to speak 'cause I cut up bushes!"

Mr. Pearl Fryar discusses Eleagnus pungens espalier

We wandered with Mr. Pearl to a back corner of his yard. There was a fresh restroom with a plaque attributing it to Coca Cola and a local government's generosity. As we discussed an Eleagnus he was training to espalierg, my wife asked about the restroom. Apparently, here's how it happened; some well-heeled visitors needed to pee. He probably would've invited them into the house, but they declined to impose. But one of the visitors knew somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody else in the Coca Cola company and made a call. Within a few months, the restroom appeared magically with attributive plaques. He said, "You don't just write a letter to Coca Cola and ask them to build a restroom in your back yard."

When we arrived at the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, I spied Mr. Pearl's old iconic ladder platform that he used to prune his taller topiaries. I took a picture of it. "How quaint", I thought. Later on during our visit, he said he doesn't use it any more. It's there for show. He wanted us to see his new platform. Before long his apprentice came roaring out from behind the grown-up hedges on a humongous crane-like vehicle. So, where did that come from? Well, he explained, some visitors appreciating his art, age and philosophy of life couldn't bear the thought that he might fall off that old ladder, so they pitched in and bought him a new platform.

Apparently, Mr. Pearl is a regular customer at the nearby Waffle House. We noticed their toparies on the way into Bishopville. Well, the Waffle House in Bishopville, SC has paid to publish a calendar featuring the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden. The profits benefit Mr. Pearl's local scholarship program. He had a small stack of calendars in his vehicle. I bought one and contributed more.

Pearl Fryar recently celebrated his 75th birthday. Naturally, we asked who will continue his work. Apparently his family is not that interested, but the Garden Conservancy is, ensuring that the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden will be preserved for many years to come.

Mr. Pearl Fryar's neighborhood.

Enthusiasm is infectious. Inspired by Mr. Pearl's work, several of his neighbors have begun cutting their own shrubs and trees into fantastic topiaries. (Actually, Mr. Pearl helps prune their shrubs, too.)

Isn't that the way it works? No matter where you're from or where you hope to go, if you have a creative spirit and gumption, aspire to do well, will climb the ladder, meet and greet, share your passion, get a little help from friends and family, and have fun along the way, you should succeed. Why not?

His Garden

This is what happens when you really want to win "Yard of the Month" contest.

As mentioned before, Mr. Pearl began cuttin' bushes because he wanted to win the "Yard of the Month" contest. A driveway that looks like the one above doesn't give others much of a chance.

Juniperus chinensis 'Hetzi Columnaris'

Some plants' growth habits lend themselves to particular forms, such as these upright Green Columnar junipers (Juniperus chinensis 'Hetzii Columnaris'). The arch in the foreground was formed over curved PVC pipe.

Hollywood juniper (Juniperus chinensis 'Torulosa'), foreground.

The naturally twisted shape of Hollywood Juniper, aka Kaizuka, as seen above, is another example that lends itself to sculpting.

Water Oak (Quercus nigra)

The native Water Oak (Quercus nigra), above, appeared as a seedling volunteer. Neither it nor the native Live Oak (Quercus virginiana), below, are typical subjects for topiary. But Mr. Pearl will work with just about anything that suits his fancy.

Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)

Grafting detail. Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, Bishopville, SC

In the grafting detail (shown immediately above), you can see how Mr. Pearl has taken branches on either side, bent them, wrapped each one with wire and lashed them against the main trunk. As they grew, the branches and trunk self-grafted. At which point, he removed the wire forms. As you can see on the the left branch, he left that wire on a bit too long resulting in scar-like marks. He uses the same basic technique with other plants on which he forms arches, loops and twists.

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) pollarded. Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, Bishopville, SC

This gnarly Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) is pollarded, a pruning technique often used in European cities to control the size of street trees. Mr. Pearl said the reason he prunes it so is simply because he doesn't like raking leaves from deciduous trees. One good trimming each fall enables him to dispense with the leaves and trimmings in one fell swoop.

Still Life Snag with Inverted Clay Pots. Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden.

If a plant subject dies, he could yank it out, or trim and adorn it. Pearl Fryar doesn't worry about failures, but sees them as opportunities.

Have you visited Pearl Fryar's topiary garden? What did you think about it? Let us know in the comment section.

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Behind A Garden Wall: Ladew Topiary Gardens

Maryland State Highway 146, north of Jacksonville, meanders through gently rolling countryside featuring forest glades, verdant pastures and horse farms. Occasionally a fence, hedge or wall obscures a landscape from prying eyes. These always pique my interest. But there is one among them that welcomes public visitors to enjoy its pleasures: the Ladew Topiary Gardens.

In 1929, Harvey S. Ladew (1887-1976) purchased Pleasant Valley Farm and set about creating a 22-acre flower and topiary garden. Like most of us, he was a self-taught gardener who dreamed of creating an idyllic hideaway where he could garden to his heart's content and share it with friends. And like most of us, his garden grew along with his ideas. But unlike most of us, he had the means to create something really outstanding and keep it properly maintained.

Ladew loved to travel, so he gathered inspiration as he went. In the 1920s, he became fascinated with the art of topiary while visiting England. Topiary is the practice of training and trimming shrubs and trees into unnatural shapes. He was also very much taken with the idea of creating garden "rooms" or defined areas devoted to particular colors, plants or themes. So he gathered up his tools and set to work to create what The Garden Club of America named "the most outstanding topiary garden in America."

Before he died, Ladew made sure that his garden legacy would be preserved for public enjoyment. It exists today as a not-for-profit organization "to maintain and promote the gardens, house and facilities in keeping with the creative spirit of Harvey S. Ladew for the public benefit and for educational, scientific and cultural pursuits.


One of the first features to delight you upon visiting the property is the topiary Hunt Scene, which has become the symbol of Ladew Topiary Gardens. Yes, indeed. A green fox is frozen in time on the front lawn, chased by equally stationary hounds, and followed by top-hatted hunter made of shrubbery charging across a hedge astride his leafy steed. I wondered whether the bushy canines are ever visited by real dogs.


The existing home at Pleasant Valley Farm was originally a modest, four room house build around 1747. The Scarff family, from whom Ladew purchased the property, had enlarged the home during the 19th century. Ladew enlarged it further in the 1930s to create what is called the "Manor House." It is an imposing white residence that anchors the gardens around it. The garden rooms become living spaces as extensions of the home. On a smaller scale, this is something which I believe every home lawn and garden should be designed to achieve.

The first garden room to visit is a small woodland area featuring a large dovecote and antique aquarium. Shade loving perennials such as Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese spurge), Aserum europeum (European wild ginger), Mertensia virginica (Virginia Bluebells) surround the area. Pachysandra is such a successful ground cover that is is used in many of the other garden rooms.

A Victorian garden room is walled by rhododendron and features a carved concrete table with chairs with natural scene motifs.

The Berry Garden is planted with Viburnum and other species that produce colorful fall and winter harvests for birds.

A garden was also designed for sports. A tennis court built by Ladew was later turned into a croquet court. Border plantings begin with tulips in spring and change with the seasons. At some distance from the gardens, two well-manicured polo fields are on the property.

Three garden rooms are devoted to particular color themes. The Pink Garden is planted with Rosa 'The Fairy', cannas, Hydrangea macrophyllum, Phlox paniculata, Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea, Sedum x 'Autumn Joy' and plants of other appropriate shades. The Yellow Room, pictured above, features Ligularia, Ligustrum, Ilex x Foster hybrids, Chamaecyparis obtusa and C. pisifera cultivars, Hosta 'Sum and Substance', Hemerocallis and the like. The White Garden is planted with "more than 35 different types of plants" with white flowers and variegated foliage. Those include hostas, Aruncus, Actaea racemosa, variegated lacecap hydrangeas, Philadelphus, Cornus alba 'Elegantissima', Phlox, Hypoestes and more.

A "Garden Of Eden" cordoned with a Belgian fence of pome fruits features a statue of Adam and Eve. The sculpture can be viewed to good advantage looking back through the entrance of the Keyhole Garden. The Keyhole Garden is shaded by a mature Purple Leaf plum and planted with Phormium, Salvia, Celosia and Berberis 'Crimson Pigmy'.

The delightful Water Lily garden features PeeGee Hydrangea standards, Clethra alnifolia, Liriope spicata 'Variegata' and variegated hostas.
The Ladews loved to entertain in the garden, so the old facade of London's Tivoli Theatre ticket booth was moved to the garden and converted into a wonderful little tea house. At some distance, a Temple of Venus folly entices intimate visitors.

Magnificent topiaries can be found in many places around the property. The Sculpture Garden includes shrubby creations in the form of a top hat, a heart pierced by an arrow, birds, a butterfly and flower, seahorses and a victory sign. The 2-acre Great Bowl holds a shallow swimming pool in the center and is surrounded by wavy hedges afloat with swan topiaries. To the east of the Great Bowl, a walk through a gateway in a hedge leads to the Iris Garden, divided by an attractive brook. At the end, a koi pond features a topiary Chinese "junk", overlooking which a topiary Buddha meditates. The Terrace Garden is guarded with windowed walls, obelisks and garlands of Canadian hemlock.

So many wonderful areas invite us to linger: the portico, herb and cutting garden, cottage garden and wildflower meadow. When you've had enough order, a 1-1/2 mile nature walk provides a stroll through somewhat trammeled wilderness.

If you ever have an opportunity to visit Ladew Topiary Gardens, I encourage you to do so. There is no better way to spend your hours than in a garden. You'll come away with many ideas you'll want to try on a smaller scale at home. But don't hurry away; stop for refreshment in the Cafe. In addition to the gardens, tours of the manor house are available, and throughout the year special events and concerts will entertain you.

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