Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a botanical garden in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, covering around 52 acres and organized into themed sections such as rose gardens, water lily pools, and native plant collections. The grounds connect lawn areas with dense plantings and shaded walkways where visitors move between flower beds and mature trees.

The garden opened in 1910 to provide education and recreation in a growing city surrounded by dense urban blocks. Takeo Shiota designed the Japanese garden in 1915, making it the first of its kind in an American public botanical garden.

The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden follows a design that guides visitors along narrow paths over bridges and past stone lanterns beneath overhanging branches. Cherry blossoms frame the water in spring, while locals and families pause on benches to watch turtles and koi swim near the surface.

The grounds have three entrances on Eastern Parkway, Flatbush Avenue, and Washington Avenue, with most areas accessible via paved or packed-earth paths. Spring and fall offer the best conditions for blossoms and foliage, while summer days can grow hot and shade under the trees becomes helpful.

The C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum holds around 350 bonsai specimens and ranks as the second-oldest collection of its kind in the United States. Some of the trees are over a century old and rest in shallow trays on wooden stands, allowing visitors to study the shaped roots and branches up close.

Location: Brooklyn

Location: Kings County

Inception: 1910

Official opening: 1910

Website: http://bbg.org

GPS coordinates: 40.66806,-73.96389

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:23