The best botanical gardens and hidden oases in Los Angeles

Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the J. Paul Getty Trust’s astronomical endowment is the famed hilltop art museum’s grounds. Once you’ve taken the electric tram ride up the hill, one thing becomes apparent: It’s a big place. Zigzagging paths cut across a manicured creek and down to artist Robert Irwin’s Central Garden, with a pond and hedge maze as its focus. You’ll find bits of greenery elsewhere among the limestone edifices, but I always make sure to visit the perch above the cactus garden, set against the Century City skyline and Pacific Ocean.

Address: 1200 Getty Center Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90049

Opening hours: Tue–Fri, Sun 10am–6:30pm; Sat 10am–9pm; closed Mon

Pricing: Free admission; parking $25, after 3pm $15, after 6pm $10

The host of two Olympics (with a third on the way), Exposition Park stands as one of L.A.’s most significant institutions. Home to the Natural History Museum, California Science Center and California African American Museum (not to mention the upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art), you’ll find green spaces scattered around the USC-adjacent property. But the most charming section resides in the fragrant Rose Garden, where you can rest in one of the gazebos or take a stroll around the central fountain, all the while admiring its beautiful brick neighbors. Just a heads-up: The garden is usually closed for seasonal maintenance and pruning from January until mid-March each year.

Address: 701 State Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90037

Opening hours: Daily 8:30am–dusk

Pricing: Free admission; parking $20, after 5pm $24

Reservations required. Tour calendar posted monthly.

Department store magnates Virginia and Harry Robinson built this Beverly Hills estate in 1911, and upon their passing it entered into the county’s hands as a public park. Because of the six-and-a-half-acre estate’s quiet residential location, it’s only accessible via docent-led tours, which you’ll need to arrange two weeks in advance online. Once inside, you’ll find finely manicured gardens and a just-as-impeccably assembled mansion (though to see the entire house, you’ll have to book a pricier Behind the Scenes tour). In keeping with its storied history of lavish Hollywood parties, the estate hosts a swanky garden-party fundraiser at the start of each summer.

Address: 1008 Elden Way, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Opening hours: Tue–Sat 9am–sunset

Pricing: $18, students and seniors 62 and over $14, children ages 3–12 $8, under 3 free. Behind the Scenes tour $50.

This 55-room Tudor estate is a good way to get a glimpse into the lives of L.A.’s historical 1 percent—when the home was finished in 1929, it cost a reported $3M, making it the most expensive private home in the city at the time. Though the interior is only open for events and tours, the exterior gardens are open daily, free of charge. Take a stroll through alleys of poplars and cypress trees, past a fountain and reflecting pool, and a terraced pool area. You might recognize the grounds from their supporting role in many movies and TV shows, including The Big Lebowski, Spider-Man and Gilmore Girls.

Address: 905 Loma Vista Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Opening hours: Daily 10am–5pm (Pacific Standard Time), 10am–6pm (Daylight Savings Time)

Pricing: Free admission, free parking

This Pacific Palisades villa—the original site of J. Paul Getty’s collection—houses thousands of Greek and Roman artifacts, but you could easily be satisfied just wandering through its gardens. Built to mimic a Roman country house, the villa boasts a central pool flanked by flower beds and bronze busts, and its southernmost point offers the tiniest glimpse of the ocean. Make sure to explore both sides to find an edible garden and a fountain set against a vibrant mosaic. Though the Palisades Fire affected the surrounding landscape—resulting in the loss of 44 percent of the property’s forest—the manicured gardens were thankfully unharmed. 

Address: 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Opening hours: Mon, Wed–Sun 10am–5pm; closed Tue

Pricing: Free admission; parking $25, after 3pm $15, after 6pm $10

In 1971, hiker Amir Dialameh singlehandedly nurtured a scorched hillside in Griffith Park into a shaded retreat. More than a half-century later, this five-acre, volunteer-run garden remains a favorite rest stop for hikers and equestrians alike. Getting here is the difficult part: It’s about a half-mile walk uphill from the trailhead at Mineral Wells Road and Griffith Park Drive, and the actual garden area is considerably smaller than the other picks on this list. But I think the payoff is pretty sweet once you’ve found a seat on the hilltop picnic benches, among a patchwork of flower beds.

Address: Mineral Wells Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Opening hours: Daily 5am–10:30pm

Pricing: Free

It’s impossible to cruise along Grand Avenue and miss the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a twisted metallic explosion of Frank Gehry’s imagination. But you could very easily miss the lush garden hiding in the shadows of the acoustically impressive venue. A perfect spot to take a bagged lunch or get some fresh air during jury duty, the landscaped area has two entrances: The easiest-to-find one is on Grand Avenue near 2nd Street (look for the stairs, or use the elevator in the building to the left), and there’s another on 1st Street near the corner of Hope Street.

Address: 111 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Opening hours: Daily 5am–10pm

Pricing: Free

Pasadena certainly doesn’t come up short when it comes to green space. But among all those parks and plazas, Arlington Garden is the only completely free public garden in the city. (It’s also pet-friendly, provided Fido is on a leash.) Walk among sycamores and succulents in this Italian-inspired sanctuary, and navigate a seven-circuit labyrinth. Though you’re not allowed to pick any of the flowers or fruit growing on-site, you can buy a jar of the garden’s marmalade, made locally using Washington Navel oranges from its grove.

Address: 275 Arlington Dr, Pasadena, CA 91105

Opening hours: Daily 8am–6pm

Pricing: Free

Free reservations required.

Just inland from the Pacific Coast Highway and easy to miss when you’re rushing to catch the sunset, the mystical, meditative Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is run by a non-denominational order that welcomes visitors but doesn’t proselytize to them. Set on a 10-acre site that was used as a film set during the silent era, the lovely gardens evoke old Hollywood: Look out for the Dutch windmill chapel, the Mississippi houseboat and a number of gliding swans. The East, meanwhile, is represented by a gilded lotus gate enclosing a shrine that contains some of Gandhi’s ashes. Though the 2025 Palisades Fire surrounded the meditation gardens, all of the legacy structures and the gardens remained intact, though the temple and retreat buildings have yet to reopen.

Address: 17080 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90272

Opening hours: Wed–Sun 10–11:30am, 1–3pm

Pricing: Free

Events, weddings and banquets are often held at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens, but the former site of the Lawry’s California Center is an ideal spot for an afternoon stroll as well. You might feel slightly out of place as you spot event planners scoping out the property, but don’t worry: I’ve spent plenty of time exploring the grounds without being hassled. On weekdays, make a quick stop by the visitor center, which serves as an exhibit hall celebrating the L.A. River, or walk through the adjacent, small River Garden Park at the corner of San Fernando Road and Avenue 26, where you might see families picnicking or joggers taking a water break.

Address: 570 W Ave 26, Los Angeles, CA 90065

Opening hours: Park open daily sunrise–sunset; exhibit open Mon–Fri 9am–5pm

Pricing: Free

Tucked between the Hollywood Reservoir and the Hollywood Sign, this mosaic-filled grove of folk art is decidedly not public: The locked gate and general lack of information clearly state that this garden is meant to be hush-hush. But as a designated Historic-Cultural Monument (#996), its existence isn’t exactly secret; the hours aren’t consistent, but you can sometimes visit it on Thursdays from 10am to noon (as long as you don’t take photos inside). At any other time, we just request that you glance into this peaceful terrace of tile work and potted succulents from a respectful distance.

Address: 3040 Ledgewood Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068

Opening hours: Thu 10am–noon

Pricing: Free