13 Magnificent Private Gardens

An informal sense of an American country landscape was the desired aesthetic for this New Jersey garden which includes French formal boxwood plantings, English borders and an interplay between trees and allees. This is one of the more than 350 gardens included in The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program which features private gardens not normally open to the public and is America’s only private garden-visit program of its kind. 

Delphiniums, boxwoods, roses and annuals create eye-popping color in brick raised beds facing an open view of the St. Johns River in this private green space in Jacksonville, Florida. Hicks Garden was showcased by The Garden Conservancy during a previous Open Days program.

A vast collection of unusual and rare plants strategically placed in borders, vibrant large ceramic pots lushly planted with tropicals, and garden rooms connected by a myriad of secret pathways are among the alluring features of this private green space in Shaker Heights, Ohio. For more information about this and other private gardens that are open to the public for a limited time during the season, check out The Garden Conservancy.

A unique combination of an old-fashioned Southern garden with the non-traditional is represented by this lush space in Charleston, South Carolina. The footprint of the garden was designed in the late 1960s by the well-known Charleston landscape architect, Loutrell Briggs. The Garden Conservancy hosts coast to coast events such as private garden tours through their Open Days program.