This is a beautiful garden in all seasons and the fall colors are lovely. I visited in October 2026. The parking lot is currently closed and there is construction on the corner where the garden’s entrance is located so plan extra time to find street parking. (Even when the parking lot is open it fills up quickly so street parking is often the only option). All that being said, it is worth a trip!

Wow Wow Wow! This garden way surpassed expectations. It was the most impressive collection of dwarf conifers I have ever seen, and I visit gardens all the time. Just the sheer variety and size was amazing. These dwarf conifers are many decades old and no longer dwarf ;-) Small streams, Japanese maples, ponds, bridges, rock formations, it has it all. I honestly do not understand why this is not more widely known.

We love a good garden, so put the Kubota Garden on our itinerary to visit during our time in Seattle. It's about a 30-minute from downtown, off I-5 into a residential neighborhood. There is a free parking lot, but since the Summer Thunder: Taiko in the Garden event was happening that day, the lot was full, so we had to park on the street and walk several blocks down the hill to the garden. Free admission. There was a welcome tent at the main entrance, but not at the second entrance which we used. We followed signs to the Terrace where the Taiko event was happening. Lots of people enjoying the show that featured local groups playing and singing and dancing. We watched for a while before moving on to see the gardens. The Kubota Garden was established in the late 1920s, so it has a long history. And it is quite a large space. Even with a map, we had difficulty identifying the right path to sites like the Moon Bridge and the Heart Bridge (both the typical red Japanese bridges). We even walked a wooded trail that hit a dead end. And some paths within an area are not clearly marked and require attention to the rocks and uneven ground. It would be nice to have a few signs that match numbers on the map with the direction to go. Some water features need cleanup. Some of the views with the large trees of varying shapes, sizes, and colors were quite appealing! Not sure which areas have gardens, but we saw few flowers that day.

It was such a stroke of luck that we accidentally found out about these beautiful gardens. Considering that the entrance is free, it is amazing how well it is kept at such a big scale . Gardens are really big and include several beautiful ponds and streams with koi fish and little tortoise. We came in early September, where little was in bloom, but thoroughly enjoyed the serene atmosphere, peace and quiet in this beautiful corner of Seattle.

Treat this as a choose your own adventure experience. Wander, choose different paths each time you visit to experience the gardens the way you want, not in a prescribed plan. Have fun! It is dusty so wear good walking shoes.