south coast botanic garden

Those who gave this place a 5 star are either very easily amused, or settle for what's available in the area. Sorry but this place is Just Ok.The last time I came here was with the girls scouts in the 5th grade, and we had to pull weeds to earn a merit badge. Fast forward 30+ years, and here we are, strolling along the path of flowers and trees on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Its a small, but nice little botanical garden tucked near the hills between Torrance and Palos Verdes. This garden is not as grand as the Huntington LIbrary, but admission is also much cheaper (only $9 versus $23) too. So you do get what you pay for.Unlike the Huntington, there's not much to do, except view various types of floral and fauna, and one can definitely cover the grounds easily in a 2 hours. There's no cafe or private collection of any kind to view. I'm not even sure if you can bring food on the ground, although they have a tiny gift shop, and, I do see trashcans placed sporadically around the grounds. This place supposedly has a tram, but they can't seem to hire a driver, and probably because of budget, only run it after 1:00 on weekends.They offer a cell phone guided tour, but my Verizon phone wasn't picking up much of a signal. This place does offer groupon specials, so that's probably your best bet in coming here. Its a nice place for an outdoor event or wedding. They even have an indoor venue that can hold up to 300+ people.People come here with their kids, but for me, 2 hours was plenty of time for me to view the place. The staff doesn't seem to be overly eager to help. They are polite but pretty much that's it. Aside from one grounds keeper roaming around in his go-cart, I didn't interact with any staff member outside the admissions box office.Overall its an A ok botanical garden where its seen better days, when possibly their sponsors/benefactors did once care about the place. Free parking on site as well.

OK, I will admit I am a huge nature lover, but that said…this place never fails to impress. I always come away filled with peace and calm and joy and wonder. Altho I live 150 miles away and was visiting relatives nearby, the first time I came I purchased a membership as I knew right away I would be coming back often. When we are in the area I have been known to come multiple times in a single day! Just as in nature, each day (and each time of day for that matter) at the Garden is a little different. The angle of the light, the ambient air temperature, which flowers are blooming, which birds are singing…all flow together to weave a tapestry of pure beauty and delight. One of my most favorite days was a day when it had just rained and nature put on a display of millions of shimmering 'diamonds' in the sunlight shining through the water droplets. A little history -- you may be surprised! This property was a diatomaceous earth mine and later a landfill. All the more astounding when you begin to explore the rich and diverse 55 acres and think about what it used to be and marvel at what it is now. There is truly something for everyone here. They hold a wide variety of classes and programs open to the public with discounts for members. I have seen infants in strollers all the way to elderly here…all thoroughly enjoying themselves amidst this rich panorama of pure, unadulterated nature. There are both paved and unpaved areas to explore. Some are formal, some are informal, some are forested. There is a delightful children's garden, there are both large and small lawn areas, and vast gardens of both cultivated and semi-native botanicals. There is also a somewhat small but nice gift shop and convenient restrooms as well. When I bring my young grandchildren they like to take turns choosing which path we should go on. One day they played for a whole hour and a half in a deeply forested area as I sat near them on the forest floor, all of us so nourished in soul to be in a place of such primeval beauty. Please if you have not been here come -- alone or with friends or family, but do be sure and come. I guarantee you will be back soon!

What a lovely venue! Huge, well maintained, quiet. It is just a lovely spot for a ling walk and a very reasonable price.

If you’re in the Palos Verdes area and hankering to be outside, or if you live in the area and want a place to go once a month to hug some trees (a pastime I wholeheartedly support), this is a good place to go. However, it isn’t a really well-organized display of discrete types of horticulture. For that, you need to go to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena – although from the Palos Verdes area it’s at least an hour’s drive to Huntington and costs $23 versus $9 for South Coast. There is the obligatory Japanese garden; a children’s garden; a rose garden; and a cactus garden. The sensory garden was, meh. And then you’re left wandering around looking at trees. There are some interesting tree specimens, and a very good collection of fig trees, but you have to wander around to find things, and there aren’t many areas with theme designs, like discrete ecosystems. And there are not many smaller or showier plants. I didn’t see any plantings that display what grows well in the local environment. In fairness, I think the place has been really badly impacted by the drought: plenty of palms and conifers were looking decidedly worse for the wear.

My parents and I went last Monday, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for the first time to this garden. The price to enter is not bad, $9 per adult, $6 for seniors. For two seniors and one adult that comes out to $21, about $25. If we were to go twice that is about $50 spent, so we got a membership. If you would like to, you can pay for membership and doing so is an easy process. The membership is $50 and the membership allows you to get in free the rest of the year. The membership also allows you to get into other Botanic Gardens. If you do pay for the membership, the process was quick and simple. You get a plastic card that can be scanned, two tickets for other people you would like to bring, and informational papers. One of the papers is about the other places you can get into. The day was sunny but not to warm and every so often there was a cool breeze. The place consist of many acres and maps and signs are provided. There is the option of doing a tram tour. It a beautiful place. Would love to go back and explore some more.

Located in Palos verdes, it is a wonderful garden to stroll and enjoy. A little off the beaten path but worth the trip.

My husband and I (who generally enjoy nature things) enjoyed a lovely morning here. Although it was December and many plants were not in bloom, there was still plenty to see. Love all the plant and tree identification labels. Wide variety of trees!

Our family of three wanted a day out in the fresh air so we sought and found the South Coast Botanic Garden. This is a tiny pearl of a simple, unpretentious garden in the middle of the Palos Verdes peninsula. Highlights: the cacti garden full of wondrous, other-worldly plants and the rose garden with its heavenly scents and minuscule hummingbirds darting about the many-colored blossoms. Read in another review that most of the scenic walk was at the front end of the park and found this to be true. Remember to visit the little shop on the premises. I bought a perfectly constructed tiny basket made from pine needles harvested from the botanic garden as a keepsake. We were delightfully distracted for almost three hours.

We went here on a Friday afternoon on the way home from San Diego. The staff was very friendly and we were guided into a beautiful garden. We had a little trouble finding our way around so we got some extra exercise. I thought walking the path was a little boring. In the end, I wish we would have either had more time to explore the center of the park, or took what time we had to only see what was in the front. There was a LOT there. The Rose Garden was huge and in full bloom in November. Wow. There were very nice plants to keep your interest. Loved the garden and would love to visit again.

It was created from a former city waste dump about 20 years ago and cover more than 60 acres (about 25 hectares). The areas closest to the entrance are small compact gardens in a variety of styles - Japanese Garden, 'Touch & Smell' area for visually handicapped, desert garden, rose garden etc. As you move further afield the areas become larger and more naturalised. During the visitors' main season a bus runs a circular tour round the site.The long winding paths can be very tiring for elderly visitors and those with restricted mobility. Be sure to take a bottle of water on hot days! Rest rooms are located near the entrance and at the furthest point from the entrance, in between 'Keep Calm and Hang on!' Seats where one might rest and enjoy the surroundings are few and far between.Signage is very sparse. We made frequent reference to the free guide map to determine where we were and how to get to the next point of interest. Better route markers and a few 'You are Here' information panels would be a great help.Other than the specialised garden area, my impression of the remainder is of long woodland walks with not a lot to create interest. It's impossible to see the whole place in a day, pick a few key areas to enjoy and save the remainder for another visit.

Small charge for these gardens. We enjoyed all the flowers and different cactuses. Took our time and took lots of pictures. It is a little difficult to find, but, if you enjoy this type of attraction it is a good place to spend some time.

I have to say one of the reasons I like this garden is that it's so close to home. I can go every weekend if I want for a few hours. They have beautiful weddings there, events . It's one of my favorite gardens in LA area. FREE parking !

It's beautiful. There's lots to see and very nicely paved trails and signs. When I came here the drought surely did get to this place. I wanted to see the lake but it was completely dried out. I wish admission was free though like at the Fullerton Aboretum, but I understand it costs money to maintain a garden of this magnitude. Since it's not free I'll only be visiting on the third Tuesday of every month where admission is FREE! Great way to just take a stroll and let time fly by.

A gem in the heart of Palos Verdes. Lots of flowering plants and butterflies. A large variety of specialty gardens: cactus, Japanese, rose, palm, conifer. My favorite was the children's garden with small scale buildings and figures. Plus more wild gardens with rustic paths. Allow several hours to see all.

I've been coming to the South Coast Botanic Garden (SCBG) since the 70s, when the entrance was clear on the other side, on Rolling Hills Road, and you parked your car on dirt and gravel. There were periods when I didn't visit, but those didn't last that long. I love to walk around here, and thanks to a Groupon now have a family membership that lets me, my girlfriend or sister, and my niece get in any time for a whole year for only $25.I never get tired of checking out the Childrens' Garden, the Rose Garden, the Garden for the Senses, then walking the trail clockwise around the property, cutting through Alpine Lane, taking a look around the Desert Garden, and then the Japanese Garden before leaving. There's always something new to see.Sometimes, especially when I'm with my niece, we go off the beaten path and hike through areas that I've seldom seen, which is always an adventure. As other reviewers have noted, there are areas that look like they're a work in progress or have just been forgotten. I don't think the SCBG has the budget of the Arboretum or The Huntington, so I can't really fault them for that.One area, though, that has changed for the worse, and which I miss very much, is the lake and stream. Back in the 70s and 80s the lake was a real lake, with fish and ducks, and with water flowing out and down a long stream, also populated by fish.In the last few years the level of the lake has dropped further and further, and in fact is now dry all the way across. The stream also is gone, with the wooden bridge now passing over a dry streambed. Only further on, farther from the lake, is there any water at all, and it's essentially a small marsh rather than a stream. Supposedly they're working on bringing the lake back. We'll see.