Staten Island Botanical Garden

This is a very lovely garden. My husband and I had heard it was quite beautiful and decided to take the ferry over to Staten Island on a beautiful day to check it out. It is free to enter the gardens themselves but you have to pay $ 5 to go into the Chinese Scholars garden, which in my opinion is worth it. There are many historical buildings that are open to the public. There is a children’s museum as well as an art museum that houses art from children attending area elementary schools.
There are several lovely gardens, but unfortunately it has been kind of a weird spring weather wise, so the flowers were blooming very sporadically when we went. It was still very lovely. A wedding was being set up in the Tuscan garden while we were there. I could just picture the bride walking out of the villa, down the stone path, around the beautiful fountain, and towards her groom standing in the garden. Lovely spot for a wedding! The healing garden is a lovely and tranquil tribute to remember victims of ⁹⁄₁₁ with its winding pathway around the marsh. The farm and composting were waiting for some more warmth for crops to start growing. The Allee, which might be the highlight of the entire garden, was wonderful as always. Vines were fully enveloping the walkway and the sun was peaking through the holes in the vines. Such a lovely photo opportunity. Hope the bride and groom came here later! The White garden was probably one of the only gardens blooming while we were here. The Butterfly garden, Lion’s Sensory Garden, and the Shade Garden were blooming and tranquil and smelled lovely. Really loved this part of the botanical garden! Finally, there is Connie Gretz Secret Garden which is a great area for kids. There is a small maze made up of small hedges that lead to a small secret garden in the middle. Don’t worry parents, there is a rock slab you can stand on so you can see your kiddos winding through the maze! To enter the maze, you walk through a small castle like tower over a draw bridge. Fun! Unfortunately, you can’t walk up to the top of the tower (much to my husband’s dismay).
This garden is not nearly as nice as the one in the Bronx or Brooklyn, but it is free so there is that. It could use a bit more upkeep and jazzing up if they really want to make this a draw to Staten Island. If they charged a small fee, they could have the money to make this something really special.

Between the sprawling gardens, the baseball fields, the children’s museum, and arts center this is the kind of place you can bring your whole family at every age. The scenery is beautiful and it is one of the premier community institutions on Staten Island. If you haven’t made memories here and you’re a local, you’re missing out.

Not a bad way to spend a day on Staten Island.
Lots of historical buildings that are open to the public, lawns, gardens a snack bar. Also great for weddings. They have a replica Chinese garden which is my favorite part ($ 5 entry to this part).
As another reviewer noted, this could use some more maintenance to really make it more enjoyable as it does need some work. But even as-​is this place is a hidden gem.

The Staten Island Botanical Garden is an impressive collection of historical buildings, a replica of a Chinese garden and koi pond from the Ming dynasty (one of only a handful in the US), and various other plants and flowers. It is a hidden and underutilized free attraction, and I highly recommend it for families and nature lovers. The Botanical Garden also offers the ideal background for weddings and engagement photos.

We like to look at botanical gardens to see if there are any unique flowers or plants that are visibly in full bloom. We heard about the gardens here and decided to check them out.
Trying to find the place from North Central Jersey wasn’t too much of a hassle. Parking was free, so that was a plus. We got help from some people trying to tell us where to go to look at plants and such. If there was any part of the attraction that we enjoyed the most, then it would be the The New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden ($ 5 extra). A separate review with it’s own set of pics will be shared on that Unilocal page.
Aside from that garden, we also went into the Carlo Grillo Glasshouse with plants inside. Overall, everything in there looked okay, with some interesting plants. But it was HUMID BEYOND BELIEF. WOO! We immediately got out of there since the humidity was a little too much for us!
It’s not often that I get to see a huge bush with an accessible archway underneath. That was really cool. There were also areas with different plants and flowers available for viewing. Some of them looked quite interesting. They also had a really neat water fountain there, too (look for my pic of that).
We had high expectations when we came here. Unfortunately, some of the expectations were not met, hence the 3-​star rating. Some of the plant areas didn’t look very well-​maintained. I say that because we saw a general number of plants (particularly flowers) that were either dead or not in full bloom. Compared with Longwood Gardens, that was really disappointing. We also saw some buildings there, but unfortunately you had to pay extra to go in.
Overall, this was just okay. A little more maintenance in the garden exhibits would really increase the possibility of bringing more people in. The more appealing of the exhibits, the better. Once was enough for us.

A fascinating collection of old buildings, many of which are open to the public. Today, I saw the collection of maritime art by John Noble and others. I will be back another day to see other exhibits.
Much bigger thank Brooklyn

Peaceful and serene, I’ve visited Sung Harbor and SIBG countless times, the gardens are a pleasure to just stroll through or to just sit and close your eyes. The 2 main attractions here are Conne Gretz’s secret garden and the Chinese Scholar’s Garden.
It’s always cool and breezy on the hot summer days, great stop in if you’re passing through Staten Island, it’s a gem of a place and I go at least twice a year when I can.
There is so much history here and I discover something new each time I go.

With the proper funding this place could be amazing but as of 3 weeks ago it was pretty run down its a shame

If you’re looking for the Staten Island Botanical Gardens you might be thrown off when you keep seeing things saying Snug Harbor. The Botanical Gardens in State Island isn’t like the gardens in Brooklyn or elsewhere. It’s actually a series of different gardens (some free some not) of varying types and sizes spread out over a large area full of lawns, historic buildings, and museums. The entire area with large free parking lot is open until dusk but some gardens that require admission (like the $ 5 Chinese garden) close earlier. The place is picture perfect whether you’re looking for a place to photograph brides, portraits, fashion, or just of the flowers and ground itself. If you get there and look at the grounds map you might think it would take you forever to go and see everything (it looks like it would be the size of the Bronx Zoo) but that map is deceiving because the place isn’t that big at all and you could see everything in a couple hours (maybe less if you rushed). The crowning Jewel of the place however is the Chinese Garden. The place is well worth the $ 5 admission and is really one of the coolest things I’ve seen in New York. I was a little disappointed with the Secret Garden though (which said it had a hedge labyrinth maze and a small castle). I guess it’s no secret that this garden really is for toddlers as the labyrinth is less than 4 feet tall. Overall the Staten Island Botanical Gardens seemed a little unorganized as there was no clear visitors center (they had one girl sitting in an information booth for assistance) the place was almost deserted on a Saturday afternoon, and everything is pretty spaced out and felt completely separate from one another. But it was nice to have lots of elbow room, the place looked like a perfect place to have a picnic or throw a frisbee around and between the free parking and the Chinese Garden it was worth the trip.

Wow! This place was a surprise to us! We had great weather and really enjoyed the grounds here. It is worth checking out for the Chinese Scholar Gardens– so beautiful it transports you in time. We felt like we were in China!
The White Gardens are worth a visit also– small and intimate we had our lunch on the picnic bench here.
We also were thoroughly impressed with the 9 – 11 memorial on the grounds. It is one of the most thorough ones we have seen in the area and so incredibly moving that we both left in tears. I would visit it last or you may not feel so lighthearted exploring the rest of the gardens.