Pearl Fryar, Unlikely Titan of Topiary

Photo by Duane Burdick

To some people, a shrub is just a shrub; to Pearl Fryar, a shrub is a canvas. Fryar is an artist with plants. But he didn’t start out that way.

When he bought his home in 1981, Fryar didn’t know anything about gardening. Still, he wanted to win Yard of the Month from the local garden club. At a local nursery, he spied a potted topiary plant and asked to buy it. But the nursery owner wouldn’t sell it to him, especially after learning that Fryar didn’t know how to garden. Instead, the owner gave him a crash course in pruning.

Fryar went home and set to work. He taught himself topiary. Using cast-off plants from nearby nurseries, he began to spend long hours in his yard. He’d work twelve-hour shifts at his job, then come home and sculpt his plants until the wee hours of the morning. This pattern continues today. “I’m only at one of two places,” Fryar says. “At work or in my garden.”

After five years of planning and pruning, Fryar’s garden finally won Yard of the Month. Over the past 25 years, it’s grown into something more. It’s actually become a tourist destination, and has served as a launching pad for a scholarship fund.

The 2008 film A Man Named Pearl delves more into Fryar’s background. Here’s a trailer:

Jackie Robinson was Fryar’s role model. He saw what Robinson was able to accomplish by using his talent, and so looked for something he could do well too. That “something” happened to be sculpting plants. But Fryar recognizes that for other people, that “something” could be completely different. One of his goals is to help others discover what they’re good at.

Here’s a four-minute documentary about Fryar made by students from UCLA in the spring of 2010:

This video highlights The Pearl Fryar Scholarship Fund, a foundation Fryar started to help average students have a chance at success.

Fryar wasn’t a stellar student. He didn’t achieve academically. Yet, he managed to find a path to success anyhow. Now that he’s received some attention, Fryar has made it his goal to help others with a background similar to his. There are many scholarships out there for top students, but he wants to help those who are average.

When he was stationed in Korea, Fryar saw a quotation that inspired him: “He or she who does no more than the average will never rise above the average.” Now his goal is to help those who are average to rise above, to work at the fullest of their potential.

“Success is about work,” Fryar says. “You show me anyone who works at anything with a passion, and I’ll show you somebody who’s going to succeed. But what determines that success from what you are given is the environment. If you vary the environment, you can vary the thinking of that kid.”

From Fryar’s website, here’s more about the scholarship fund:

Pearl Fryar believes strongly in the role higher education can play in breaking the cycle of poverty in rural communities. He tells visitors to the garden that he believes a student’s academic performance does not always reflect potential for success. To realize Pearl’s objective of helping the average student to succeed, the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, Inc. contributes to scholarship funds at Central Carolina Technical College in Bishopville, South Carolina and at Clinton Junior College in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Scholarships are awarded to students who might not have done well in high school but who nevertheless show “potential.”

Photo by Abbey Hambright

To learn more about Pearl Fryar and his work:

• Los Angeles Times: Pearl Fryar, topiary hero
• Human Flower Project: Evergreen surrealist, Pearl Fryar
• HGTV’s “A Gardener’s Diary” program did a tour of Fryar’s garden in which he explains which plants he uses and how he sculpts them.
• Here’s a four-minute clip from Ovation TV about Fryar’s work with art students from a local college.
• Here’s an eleven-minute video of Fryar demonstrating his topiary techniques.
• About fifty seconds into this video, there are five minutes of questions and answers with Fryar.
• Finally, I really like this six-minute video featuring a group New York musicians who stop to see Fryar’s garden on their way to Atlanta.

Fryar’s story is a great reminder that sometimes the most awesome people are those who live next door.

[This story idea submitted by Ray from Tip Hero.]