I would not suggest coming here with little kids. My kids got a bit ahead of me on the path and a docent yelled at me for not keeping them with me. I never could relax and enjoy my surroundings because I felt like I was being constantly surveilled. I wonder why that was.

We paid them a visit while traveling last month. It's a small place, but great scenery and nice quiet place to take in nature. The staff was very friendly and the best thing was that it was free to the public.

I distinctly remember coming here often as a child and really loving it. My family would take photos in the Spring, make a whole day to come out, and play on the giant chessboard. Having come back around 10 years later, this place feels very different. The chessboard is gone, a few of the little fun things I remember are vanished (there was a path through the bamboo at one point but that looks to have been closed off and isolated). The major thing, as many of the lowest reviews have mentioned, is the aggressive and unnecessary rules around the space. No photos. No water bottles. No running/playing. No food outside of a specific corner. No leaving things on a bench (even by accident). No going on the grass, and certainly, absolutely NO photography of any kind without a permit (even on a phone). All around no fun.Ultimately, if you actually follow the rules to the letter, there's next to nothing to do in the space other than look at it with your hands in your pockets touching nothing. Not the worst but already worse than a public park down the road in the activities you can do. I give it a 3/5 because of the good memories, the pretty garden spaces, but definitely take off two points because of how unfriendly it feels for a space meant for the public to enjoy.

This collection of gardens is an oasis in the middle of Thousand Oaks. My GPS got a little confused and tried to have me turn in the pedestrian gate. Not knowing they have a parking lot through the next gate down, I found street parking right by the pedestrian gate and walked in. It is free to enter and is lovely. There are several different garden styles, French, Spanish, Japanese, American, Italian and a rose garden. It was fun to walk through and up by the parking lot, I picked up a brochure with more information about the whole place. It was worth the walk around.

Free and spectacular! English rose garden, Italian garden, Japanese garden and more. Unbelievably beautiful. How do they keep the gardens so pristine in the heat?