earl burns miller japanese garden

Fabulous gardens (Japanese, Chinese, Desert, Rose, and Shakespeare), beautiful buildings and surroundings!

This place is peaceful and beautiful. The koi are awesome. If you're in the area, its certainly worth a look!

I came to this garden the Sunday of my trip on a whim actually. It was near the motel I was staying at while checking out the area. The garden is small, but very calming. As others have stated, entrance is free, but you need to pay to park. Very limited space at the meter parking so those spaces go fast. Everyone else needs to pay the $5 space for the day. I did that on my visit. The payment machine takes cash in ones and fives or by credit card. The machine was picky this day with another person's card so I paid the cash. You put the parking ticket on the window of your car. The first thing you notice when you step inside the garden is the large koi pond with ducks. There is a booth on the left side as you enter that serves sort of like an informal visitor services desk that was manned by a group of people that looked like a mixture of staff and students. Just beyond that booth is a gumball machine that takes quarters only to give people a handful of koi food to feed the fish and ducks. There is also a crane that at first glance you think it is fake, but it is real. The grounds intertwine with bonsai trees, small water features, sand sculpture area, tea house, bridges, cherry blossoms, lanterns, bamboo, flowers, and benches. Most people could tour this garden in less than an hour unless attending for an event. There were many folks there checking out the grounds as a potential wedding/reception venue. There was a staff from a wedding/event planning company on premise for questions and to book such events on the spot. As a tourist, I would say the garden wasn't all that special and would not be worth going out of your way to see. Though if I were a student or potential student there, I would take full advantage of these beautiful grounds. There is a lot you could do with the garden. For events, they would definitely need to be small. Though nice, it is a compact space and not enough for large affairs. As a proper tourist attraction, the garden needs more for visitors to feel that the trip was worth it to see. It is lovely and calming as most people say. I just feel that, as it is currently, seeing it once was enough for me. If I were a student there, resident within walking distance, or looking to host an event for less than seventy people then I would definitely take full advantage of the garden. :)

This is a well-designed garden that packs a lot into a small 1.3 acre format. The topology is flat, and centered around a relatively large pond, so there are few intimate spaces and the feeling is not that interesting. The finely crafted 4.5 tatami tea house is somewhat raised, but the layout within the garden is very limited by the available space.The construction (e.g., bridges, walkways, pond) is modern and designed for durability and ease of maintenance rather than authentic Japanese appearance. The pines are well pruned, but the remainder of the gardening is of poor quality.The pond is quite large and has some nice koi. You can buy koi chow to feed the fish (and ducks). The water is fairly clean and clear, but it allows one to see the ugly pipes, planters, and other untilities just under the surface. The shoreline of the pond is just cement with few stones.........looks arificial and "park-like" rather than the traditional Japanese craftsmanship and stonesetting. In some areas the pond edging employs an excessive amount of fake wooden posts (gogan-kui) that are actually made of unattractive cement. Robust and easy to maintain, but ugly and unnatural.What really bothered me was the lack of quality stones. Here they used brown sedimentary stones that are cheap to obtain and easy to set, something that one does not see in Japan, and something that just doesn't look good. Worse are the fake hand-crafted cement stones. Really??? These look bad and ruin the appearance and feeling of the garden. The Sakuteiki says that the most important item in the garden are the stones, and this garden implementation ignores that completely. Sad, because with some quality stones and expert setting, this could be a very fine garden.As a garden reviewer, it is my job to be critical. But I should say that if you are in town, this garden is nevertheless pleasant and worth a visit. The entrance is free, but you have to pay a couple bucks for parking.

Free to the general public. Amazing carp pound. Perfect for a short 15 minute walk. Lots of Cherry blossom trees. Large pond to walk around. Good for receptions and photos.

I lived next to the Japanese gardens for four years, and my graduation ceremony took place here (I was on a scholarship at CSULB). The gardens are always beautiful and well maintained, it's a lovely place to visit. The only critque I have is that if you are planning an event, there are no large spaces for say, seating or a dance floor. I know that some people have had wedding at this venue, but I would find it difficult. To be honest, I would say that many pictures of the venue are a bit misleading. Not regarding it's beauty, the gardens are gorgeous, but often promo pictures show a panoramic view of the location. It isn't necessarily an easy place to hold an event, but it can certainly be done.

I loved feeding the koi and watching the ducks fight for the food. I think i took more photos showing the care the workers put into maintaining the site than the fish. Although the trained bonsai was a close second. Using ropes and weights to train bonsai was something I had never seen before.

The garden is very well maintained. It's a little oasis in the middle of the parking lot at Cal State University. You can feed the coy and take advantage of excellent photo ops.

Beautiful and peaceful garden. Great place to relax. A small but very enjoyable space with beautiful koi. The garden is free but you must pay for parking.

This Garden is truly a sanctuary in Long Beach! The have huge Koi Ponds with Koi of every size and color and beautiful horticulture all around. Located on the campus at Long Beach State College (CSULB) it offers a tranquil place to sit or casually walk around to enjoy the unique plants and trees, and of course the amazing collection of Koi Fish. If you have never visited this Garden put it on your To Do list and stop by. Check the CSULB website for hours, information, and special events held in the Garden. If you are a lover of Koi and or Japanese horticulture, you will enjoy a visit at the place of peace and beauty.

We went there for a wedding. It is a very relaxed, romantic, beautiful, serene garden only a.few feet from a busy street- a hidden gem. The staff was friendly and helpful. However, the location only had one single use (one toilet) bathroom. Many of the 100 wedding guests could be seen doing the "gotta go" dance as they waited in line to use the bathroom.

This is a great wedding location. The staff is friendly and very helpful to outside vendors. Photos are wonderful at this location.

A beautiful, peaceful, relaxing, AWESOME place to spend a little time. There is absolutely nothing to dislike about this

This is a beautiful Japanese garden, but very small. It took me under 20 minutes to stroll over the entire grounds. I would have stayed longer to take photos, but there were hordes of people everywhere on an 85-degree day. It seems families like to go there to hang out on the banks of the pond for hours. Individuals like to sit around and contemplate their SmartPhones. This was my first visit, and I think I picked a bad time. I definitely want to go back on a weekday when there are fewer people.Hope you find these tips helpful:(1) From Bellflower Boulevard the intersection you are looking for is Beach Drive. Go east and take your first left. From Atherton (north of the CSULB campus) look for Earl Warren Drive and go south. There are “Japanese Garden” signs leading the way.(2) If at all possible, find the meters in the parking lot right across from the garden. $2 for an hour; that’s plenty. Otherwise, it’s $5 for a day; that’s overkill.(3) The koi fish in the pond are humongous. I suppose that’s because there are dispensers offering up fish food. Kids will feed fish continually, and their parents will wait for them, so if you want to stroll near the pond don’t trip over the youngsters.(4) This would be a superb place for photography, so if you have camera in hand, go right at the noon opening on Sunday (closed Saturday) or simply stick to a weekday (8:00 am – 3:00 pm, Tues thru Fri).

A wonderful garden on the grounds of California State University Long Beach. It's well taken care of with staff and volunteers around should one have questions. The large pond has huge koi. A blue heron was trying to have a feast, but was unsuccessful.