Formal Gardens and Arboretums on Long Island
September 18, 2020
Are you looking for inspiration for your home garden? Or would you like to enjoy nature while on a stroll? Look no further than some of Long Island’s formal gardens and arboretums. Here you can do both while exercising and enjoying the mild weather.
The Clark Botanic Garden, located in Albertson, in Nassau County, is open for viewing with face masks. One of the garden’s features is native plants in their pollinator and rain gardens. They also have a virtual garden at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U6vhkb9ueg.
John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Gardens is located in Locust Valley. It is a recent purchase of the North Shore Land Alliance and is a new garden, first opening this month; its 28-acre spread will feature more than 4 miles of hiking trails, native plants, a swamp, and a pond.
While Old Westbury Gardens currently is open to members only by reservation, it will be open to the general public later in the summer. And, when our museum passes become available again, you can reserve a pass to the Old Westbury Gardens. By going to their website, https://www.oldwestburygardens.org/tourthegardens, you can tour the many gardens – the Walled Garden, Rose Garden, West Pond, and more – through beautiful color photos.
Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park is the former estate of William Robinson Coe, one of the last remaining Gold Coast estates that retains its original 409 acres. Although the main house is currently closed to the public, the gardens are open. They include azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, dahlias, and other flowers; there also are over 200 acres of woodland, which include a holly collection, a dwarf conifer collection, and more.
Bayard Cutting Arboretum is located in Great River, in Suffolk County near the Connetquot River. The property was donated by Mrs. William Bayard Cutting and her daughter to the Long Island State Park Region. Its collection includes a Conifer Garden, Four Seasons Garden Walk, Holly Walk, Oak Park, and others.