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Huntington Gardens

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Huntington Gardens

Huntington Gardens, located in San Marino, is one of the most beautiful places I have visited. They have a lovely Japanese garden with curved bridges and koi ponds. They also have a replica of a Japanese house that shows the rooms and how a Japanese family lives.

A few years ago the Huntington opened a Chinese garden as well. There is a lovely tea house there that shows lovely Chinese architecture.

There is also a very large zen garden that has patterns raked into the stones. The zen garden is lined with gingko trees that turn yellow in the fall. It is a quiet place to relax and think.

Just past the zen garden The Huntington has a lovely collection of bonsai trees. The trees are labeled with their type and their age. It is amazing to see the art of bonsai being practiced by the gardeners there.

If you sign up early enough you can take field trips to the Huntington, but you need to sign up a full school year in advance. The docents give various tours to school age children. I have taken my students on a field trip to the children's garden. We walked through the Japanese garden on that field trip and got to see the Japanese house. My students loved seeing how a traditional Japanese house looks.

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Message from abarker

I agree, the Japanese Garden at the Huntington is a very special place that I have enjoyed my whole life. The newly opened Chinese garden is beautiful too with all of it's Chinese stone work and architecture. I have a trip planned to the Huntington Gardens in January for my second grade class. The students will first participate in a lesson on plants and their many uses. There will be docents leading the lesson. After the lesson, you are allowed to stay at the gardens and tour on your own. I plan on taking my student to the Japanese & Chinese gardens to look for inspiration to write poetry, such as Haiku. The students will have note pads to sketch and take notes at what they see. From the beautiful bridges and koi pond,s to the flowers, stones and bonsai trees, I think my students will gather a lot of inspiration for their poetry writing back at school.

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Message from mapodaca

The Japanese Garden has a variety of themes. There is the traditional garden with its curved bridge and koi pond. There is the section with many bonsoi and in that area I can explain to the children about the Japanese idea of minature trees. The zen garden with its raked gravel and the rocks that are suppose to be islands of the ocean. In the new tea house you can see the tea ceremony on certain days. There are many ways to approach the teaching about the both the gardens themselves and Japanese traditions that are demonstrated in the garden.

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Message from eleyva

I agree that the Huntington has incredible gardens. I've gone several times and I'm always impressed. It's good to see such authentic gardens in Los Angeles. I'm always surprised at how many people have never been to such a beautiful and accessable place.

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Message from nguillen

Has anyone been to the Japanese Garden at The Huntington since the renovation concluded? I've never been and I'd love to hear any thoughts on effects of the project.

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Message from pperez

I have also been to the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library. I went there on a field trip with some high school students and they also enjoyed the garden. The students commented on the wooden structures and unique artistic styles of the garden. The water was pleasant to look at and the tea shop was a pleasant place to rest. Although I believe the tea house was overpriced, it did provide a new experience for my students.

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Message from kquezada

I can't wait to go it sounds amazing! This will definitely be on my summer to do list. Thanks!

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Message from igonzalez

The Huntington Library is a beautiful place to visit. This museum has so much to offer, from beautiful gardens, tea room, several historical pieces of artwork and the extensive library. It is free every first Thursday of the month, if anybody is interested.

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Message from dcoronel

I have only visited this place once. I would really like to visit it again and take pictures of the vivid scenery and beautiful flowers. Thanks for sharing.

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Message from lstribling

I loved both the Japanese and Chinese gardens at the huntington. This would be among my favorite places in LA. I also recommend the arboretum as a place with a lot of asian influenced landscape architecture. Both are really beautiful places. Both great to take students to.

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Henry E. Huntington and Hertrich worked together to mold the working ranch into a botanical garden of rare and exotic plants. They searched local nurseries and visited other plant collectors in the area to find mature and unique specimens. Mr. Huntington imported plants from many parts of the world to experiment with their cultivation in Southern California.

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Message from jahawdon

I'm a member and I go to these garden on a regular basis. The Japanese garden is complete however there is still work going on in the Chinese garden and there are extensive renovations going on at the entrance at the moment. Don't be dissuaded it is still a magnificent garden and everyone should make this a destination when in LA.
edited by jahawdon on 7/28/2014

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I also loved both place.

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Message from jvarko

The Huntington Gardens is a treasure! This was the first time I enjoyed the Japanese and Chinese gardens with a docent. I'd seen the Bonsai before but having Dick, a retired teachers and botanist gives us more on Bonsai, was a real treat. We also were fortunate enough to meet the director of the Japanese garden and have a look at the Japanese tea house, just next to the Bonsai gardens. One of the differences I notices in the gardens was the Japanese setting in a more vertical design, giving the impression of mountains, where as with the Chinese gardens were centered on bodies of water, small lakes/ponds.

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Message from janetgarcia

I agree with the beauty of the Japanese Gardens at the Huntington Library. Just wanted share that the first Thursday of the month, the Huntington Library offers free admission to all guest with the requirement of a reservation. A reservation can be made by calling and is recommended doing it 2 months in advance as it gets filled up quickly. Highly recommend this beautiful place!

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I also loved both place.

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I loved both place.

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Message from skroop

The last time that I went to the Huntington Gardens was over 10 years ago. My favorite part was the Japanese Garden. This last weekend I had the chance to visit again. I had no idea how much of the gardens and surrounding buildings had been refurbished in just recent years. In the Japanese Gardens there is a Ceremonial Tea House, Japanese 5 room home, the Moon Bridge, Zen Court, and a Bonsai collection.

My favorite part of the Japanese Garden was the Bonsai trees. The shapes and sizes are so interesting in comparison to what most people maybe are used to seeing. This time around visiting I wanted to know a little bit more about the cultural history of the bonsai tree and looked up a few things online after my visit. From my understanding the history actual dates back to Imperial China and Japanese Buddhist students would bring back souvenirs from mainland China. The cutting of bonsai trees is seen not only as an art form, but also almost for contemplation of the artist or viewer. I also did not know that there are so many different styles such as: formal and informal upright, slant, cascade, root over rock, shari (parts struggling to live), multi-trunk, raft-style, and forest (which is my favorite). There are far more styles in existence than mentioned above coming in small, medium, and large sizes, all the way up to 80 inches in height.
edited by slemburg on 5/4/2015