Maymont Park . The Japanese Gardens . Part 1


I introduced you to Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia a couple of weeks ago. My first post on the subject was kind of a general overview. Then, I did a post about the Maymont Bears. Because Maymont is so large and due to the fact that I have so many photos, I thought It might be better to share some of those shots in short blogs offering multiple postings spread out a bit to keep things interesting. This is part 1 (as the title suggests) of one portion of the park… The Japanese Gardens. Mrs. Dooley was a horticulturist and worked with well known architects of the time to achieve her goals. Many of the trees in the park today have been standing for over 100 years. Many were planted under the direction of Mrs. Dooley herself. Of course, now, those trees are huge and no doubt could tell some wonderful stories of the park, if they could talk.

Entry gate leading into the Japanese Gardens.

It only seems appropriate to enter the garden via the formal gate.

A typical path in the garden

Take a little path (not really this one,but it is close) and look to your left. There you will see the waterfalls. High on the hill above is a flat layer of rocks from which a natural spring pours water over the edge of the cliff, thus forming the falls. It is a favorite resting spot for us when we visit. It is also a great backdrop for family portraits.

The water fall in the Japanese Garden

And of course a Japanese Garden is not complete without an arched bridge to add character. So wallah, one arched bridge coming right up. If you look up, you can see the stone wall surrounding the Italian Garden high on the hill above. That will be the subject of another post on another day.

The arched bridge. One way to cross the water.

If you would rather cross the water, using the stepping stones then by all means, come along with me, or rather Jacob.

Crossing the water via stepping stones.

These few photos should give you a good feel for the Japanese Gardens. They are merely the appetizer. They is more to come.Check out part 2 by clicking here.

34 responses to “Maymont Park . The Japanese Gardens . Part 1

    • Could be. LOL. I am dividing it up a bit and weaving in the shots. After the Japanese Gardens, there are the Italian Gardens to cover, the walking paths, and so on. It’s a big park. So I hope to keep you coming back for more!

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    • My kids used to love to play on those stepping stones. It is actually a huge fish pond. The Koi (I don’t know how to spell that) are huge. I’ve seen some that are 24″ long (at least). They say fish adapt to the size of their bowl. These guys have a BIG bowl! LOL. Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit.

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    • If ever you come to Richmond, Virginia, Gerry, I highly recommend adding Maymont Park to your ‘bucket list’ of things to do. After 25 years of strolling the paths, I’ve still not tired of the beauty the park hahttps://orples.wordpress.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.phps to offer. Thanks for checking it out…more to come soon. 🙂

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    • I always loved the stepping stones too. They are particularly fun if you have a couple little kids along. It becomes an adventure crossing them. 🙂 Thanks for the visit.

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    • I sleep sounding many a night after a day at the park. Lots of hills, and lots to see. Throw in chasing the little ones around, and it does get exhausting. Thanks for the visit …. more to come! 🙂

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    • One day I hope to see a few castles. They look so romantic, magnificent, elegant, historical, name it… they are not like anything you’ll find in America. I am assuming that Takeshi’s Castle is in Japan, as opposed to Europe???

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      • Oh no! Takeshi’s Castle was that TV game show with a bunch of challenges. One challenge is to hop on the discs to get across the water (just like your pic). Some of those disc plate are hard, and some of them are soft. If you pick the soft disc, then you sink and lose that challenge.

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        • You’re dealing with an old foggie that doesn’t watch game shows. If it weren’t for you youngin’s, I wouldn’t know anything. LOL. Thanks for setting me straight. 😉 Actually that sounds like a really fun game, as long as you can swim. 😉

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  1. Wow! These photos are breathtaking. I soooo want to visit this park. Hallie and Mama would love it, too! When I’m back in Virginia, I will have to plan and take the route closest to that park. Beautiful! I can’t wait for more photos from there. 😉

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  2. The entrance looks very similar to the one my daughter visited, but everything else is different – love the waterfall, and those stepping stones across the water are really cool.

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    • The whole park is magnificent. I’ll be posting more photos as time goes on (and allows). In the meantime, thanks for dropping by Judee. 🙂 It’s always a pleasure.

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  3. Pingback: Maymont Park . The Italian Gardens . Part 1 | Orples

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