There Is Garden In Rhode Island Where Trees Are Sculpted Into Animals
Hedges shaped like animals sound completely made up, I know. Yet here they are, grazing calmly across a wide green lawn.
A camel, a giraffe, a bear, all clipped from living shrubs. You round one corner and laugh right out loud.
This is the oldest topiary garden in the whole country. Generations of patient gardeners trained each leafy creature by hand.
Rhode Island holds nothing else even remotely like it. The longer you stand and look, the odder it gets.
Good luck resisting even a single quick photo. Some places simply have to be seen.
A Garden With Deep Roots
History has a way of making places feel weightier, and this garden carries a lot of it.
Green Animals Topiary Garden sits on a Portsmouth estate built around 1859 and purchased by the Brayton family in 1872.
The property was originally owned by Thomas Brayton, a cotton-mill executive from Fall River, Massachusetts, who used it as a summer retreat along Narragansett Bay.
The topiary tradition here began in the early 20th century, shaped by superintendent Joseph Carreiro and later his son-in-law George Mendonca.
They spent decades crafting the animal forms you can still see today. That commitment to the craft is what gives the garden its remarkable character.
Many of the sculpted forms you walk past are the result of years, sometimes decades, of careful trimming and training.
The estate passed to the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1972, after the death of Thomas Brayton’s daughter Alice, who had given the garden its name.
A roughly 170-year-old copper beech greets you near the entrance, quietly reminding you that some things here have been growing far longer than any of us have been around to appreciate them.
What Topiary Actually Means Here
Most people hear the word topiary and picture a neatly trimmed box hedge.
At Green Animals Topiary Garden at 380 Corys Ln in Portsmouth, the concept goes somewhere far more creative.
The garden contains over 80 sculpted forms, including animals like bears, horses, dogs, and a beloved giraffe that towers above the surrounding beds.
The sculptures are shaped from California privet, yew, and English boxwood, each chosen for its density and response to pruning. Getting a shrub to convincingly resemble a camel or a rooster takes years of incremental trimming.
The gardeners here work with wire frames as guides, slowly coaxing the plants into their intended shapes over growing seasons.
Walking the paths, I kept doing double-takes. A shape that looked like a simple mound from a distance would reveal itself as a crouching lion up close.
The topiary forms feel playful and serious at the same time, which is a hard balance to pull off in any art form, let alone one made entirely of living plants.
The Waterfront Setting Is Stunning
The garden does not just offer sculpted greenery. It sits right along Narragansett Bay, and the water views from the back of the property are breathtaking.
On the day I visited, the bay was calm and glittering, and a handful of visitors had settled onto the lawn to simply sit and take it all in.
There is a grassy area near the water that feels almost like a private park. Benches are spaced thoughtfully throughout the grounds, making it easy to pause and absorb the scenery without rushing from one topiary to the next.
Rhode Island has no shortage of coastal scenery, but combining it with a formal garden creates something that feels rare and unhurried.
The estate house sits at the end of the property overlooking the bay, and you can sit on the front porch to enjoy the view. That porch moment was one of my favorites from the whole visit.
The combination of salt air, flower fragrance, and the sound of water in the distance made it feel like the garden was delivering a full sensory experience, not just a visual one.
Flowers That Steal The Show
The topiary sculptures get most of the attention, but the flower plantings at Green Animals Topiary Garden are genuinely worth your time.
From April through October, the beds are filled with rotating seasonal blooms that include geraniums, dahlias, and a remarkable variety of plants you would not typically encounter elsewhere.
The dahlia section especially caught my eye. The blooms were dense, richly colored, and clearly tended with serious care.
Mid-July through August tends to be the peak season for the flowers, when everything is at full intensity and the garden feels almost overwhelming in the best possible way.
Even the vegetable beds are maintained with purpose, with some produce grown for donation to local food pantries.
A bamboo section adds textural variety to the garden, and the interplay between the structured topiary forms and the looser, more natural plantings creates a visual rhythm that keeps the whole space feeling dynamic.
Wildlife Joins The Garden Party
Something I did not expect from a sculpted garden was how much actual wildlife showed up to enjoy it.
Butterflies drifted between flower beds in a way that felt almost choreographed.
Bees worked the blooms steadily, and birds moved through the upper canopy of the older trees with a casual confidence that suggested they considered this garden their home too.
The density and variety of the plantings make Green Animals Topiary Garden a surprisingly rich habitat for pollinators.
The mix of flowering species across different bloom times means there is almost always something in flower, which keeps the insect activity consistent throughout the visiting season.
Moths appeared in the late morning hours, which I found unexpectedly delightful. Watching a hawk moth hover near a tall flower spike while a peacock topiary stood just a few feet away created a genuinely surreal scene.
Rhode Island has a number of nature preserves and wildlife areas, but this garden offers something different.
A Family-Friendly Outdoor Experience
Few outdoor attractions manage to entertain adults and children at the same time.
Green Animals Topiary Garden pulls it off with ease. Kids respond immediately to the animal shapes, and there is something deeply satisfying about watching a child figure out that a green mound is actually a bear before anyone tells them.
The garden layout has a mild maze-like quality that adds a sense of discovery to the walk. Paths branch and loop, and different sections reveal different collections of plants and sculptures.
That sense of exploration keeps younger visitors engaged far longer than a straightforward loop might.
Special exhibitions have added extra layers of fun in past seasons. A Lego sculpture exhibit featuring large-scale wildlife figures made from iconic plastic bricks was a hit with families, combining the garden’s natural artistry with a medium kids already love.
Rhode Island has plenty of indoor attractions for rainy days, but on a clear morning, Green Animals Topiary Garden offers a rare kind of outdoor fun that does not require screens, admission to a theme park, or a long drive.
Best Times to Plan Your Visit
Timing your visit makes a real difference at this garden.
The grounds are open seasonally, roughly early May through late October, from 9 AM to 5 PM with last admission at 4 PM, which gives you a solid window to explore without feeling rushed.
Spring and early summer bring fresh growth and newly trimmed topiary forms that look crisp and well-defined against the green lawn.
August is widely considered the peak season, when both the flowers and the topiary sculptures are at their most impressive.
The combination of full blooms, mature topiary, and warm Rhode Island weather creates ideal conditions for photography and leisurely walks.
Off-season visits in late September or October are quieter and more contemplative, though some of the sculpted forms may appear less precise as the growing season winds down.
A full walk through the garden takes around one to two hours at a relaxed pace. Bringing a picnic is a genuinely good idea, since the lawn near the bay provides a lovely spot to eat.
Combo tickets with other Newport Mansions properties offer added value if you plan to explore more of the area during your trip to Rhode Island.
Tips For Getting The Most Out Of It
A few practical things can make your visit noticeably smoother.
Purchasing tickets in advance is worth considering, especially during peak summer weekends. The staff at the entrance will walk you through the garden map and explain the best route, so do not be in too much of a hurry to skip that part of the arrival process.
Wearing comfortable walking shoes is a smart move. The paths wind through different terrain, including some grassy areas near the waterfront that can be uneven.
Photography enthusiasts should arrive early in the morning when the light is softer and the garden is less crowded. The topiary sculptures photograph beautifully in low-angle morning light.
Accessibility is somewhat limited in certain areas of the grounds, so visitors with mobility needs should be aware that some sections involve inclines. The lower parking lot near the garden entrance is the better option if accessibility is a concern.
