Stroll through the Japanese Garden in Bloom (Video)
Enjoy a virtual walk through the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden—complete with cherry blossoms—in this extraordinary video captured by cinematographer Nic Petry of Dancing Camera.
Immerse yourself in this 18-minute journey at full screen with sound.
The historic garden is one of the oldest extant Japanese gardens in the United States, and its collection of cherry cultivars was in lovely bloom during filming. Petry, a specialist in moving camera techniques, conceived the piece as a way to recreate the meditative experience of walking through the garden on a glorious, early spring day.
The garden’s weeping Higan cherries can be seen swaying in the wind along the pond as the camera moves around the path lined with several varieties of camellias, artfully pruned pine trees, and fiddlehead ferns.
While the Garden is closed to the public, please enjoy this virtual visit and stay tuned for more as spring unfolds.
Discussion
The serenity of the gardens moved me, again I am calmed by the gentle essence of the bloom in all its glory.
Beautiful!
Beautiful garden. Thank you.
I loved the video. I visited the garden last spring, 2019, during the Cherry Blossom festival which was amazing! Thank you for this video, it reminds me of what I am missing in the garden this year. I appreciate all of the breathtaking beauty we get to marvel at through the video. Thanks so much.
So wonderful!
A beautiful gift for us all. My husband and I would always walk the gardens in March to enjoy the cherry blossoms. Hopefully we will be able to walk around the gardens again soon. The sound of the ambulances, however, remind us just where we all are right now. May we all emerge from this nightmare with a new appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us.
BBG is one of my favorite places in New York. Thank you for making this video and allowing us to visit while the gardens are closed. Loved the sounds and the immersive experience.
Thank you it was lovely!! Hope to see more videos. Will watch again.
Absolutely stunning!
Ahhhh, so beautiful. What a wonderful way for us to visit. Thank you!
Enjoyed with sad memories of my dear friend Betty. May her soul RIP.
Such a beautiful, calming experience and with the addition of the birds singing. I will watch this again.
Thank you! This is lovely. Hope you will also make videos of the Cherry Esplanade and of what I call the “purple part” of the BBG for all to safely enjoy at home.
Although the visuals were inherently lovely I did not enjoy the fast moving pace and constantly swinging around of the camera. I have motion sickness and this kicked in after the first few minutes and spoiled my enjoyment of the views. I would have liked this much more had it been in slo-mo and had there been spots where the camera stopped moving altogether, in order to give me a chance to take in and appreciate the view. Listening to the birds was a lovely addition, but I could have done without the sirens. All in all a nice idea, but it needs work.
Such a beautiful distraction from the reality of the day.
I agree very relaxing and breathtaking!
Thank you — it made me feel as though I was walking through the gardens and as though I was actually enjoying the cherry trees in Regents Park (London).
Beautiful! Thank you so much.
La naturaleza es buena para nosotros.
A spring day in the park.
It looks beautiful, but I’ve never been there. I will go there later with my family. Thank you!
Amazing viewing of the Garden and excellent cinematography — gives a feeling like wandering oneself, enjoying for real in the Garden.
So good.
I’ve never had such an alive and engrossing experience with any type of virtual tour. Truly beautiful. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much! Your tour really made me feel so calm and peaceful. I’ve really missed nature the most during this difficult time and this really helped to transport me to this beautiful location! Thanks!
Thanks for this video and I’m glad to see this kind of beauty again. It makes me happy and I really appreciate it.
This is so meditative. Thank you. I hope your cinematographer will stroll down the Cherry Esplanade for us.
This is so beautiful—it helps when you are stressed and want to relax.
Beautiful, soul-saving and soothing stroll through the Japanese Garden. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I yearn for the time I can take this walk in person. I would love to see a walk to Daffodil Hill this spring!
Thank you many times over for this beautiful walk. I am there every year to see these blossoms in the Japanese Garden, to feel their peace, their inspiration. You’ve made that possible this year, too, with your exquisite film. Let’s hope that next spring we can all be there, as always, to enjoy our haven of beauty.
So wonderful! Thank you.
A lovely stroll through a corner of the world as it should be, beautiful and peaceful. Thank you.
While it is impossible with video to recreate the full exhilaration of visiting the BBG Japanese Garden in springtime, I was touched by how deeply reverent and inspired I felt while viewing this magical portrayal in nature’s solitude—a condition rarely found in an open public visit. Sincerely, thank you!
Thank you SO much for sharing this video. I moved to Los Angeles four years ago, though I’m still a member of BBG. When I lived in NYC/NJ I went to the Garden several times a month. The BBG is one of my favorite places on earth. This video magically transported me back to those paths I knew so well. My favorite feature (surpassing even the cherry esplanade) is the bluebell wood. I hope you are able to make a video of that someday. Again, many, many thanks!
Thank you for the beautiful video. The Japanese Garden is one of my favorite spots at BBG. I cried when I watched it, because I miss the garden so much.
I visited the BBG years ago with a dear friend. This brings back memories.
Just so lovely. It brought back bittersweet memories of walking in the Japanese Garden with my daughter. She lives across from the park up at the opposite end but when I visit we often walk all around the park and it’s such a pleasure. I am in England and she is in Brooklyn but I hope that before too long we will be out walking together again.
I just watched this incredible video and thank you so much for doing this for us. It is so soothing and beautiful to watch. If this were on DVD I would be the first to buy it.
Meditation at 1:23 am. Now, I can sleep peacefully. I also plan to close my morning yoga practice with this. Thank you.
I miss the gardens, but this is the next best thing.
I was a long-time member of the BBG when I lived in Brooklyn but relocated to Westchester County. This tour is superb in bringing out the great beauty of the Japanese Garden at this time of year, the perspectives, camera angles, the lack of other human beings (!), and the almost walking pace. Thank you for this jewel.
Thank you for the magnificent video. You captured the very essence of beauty that BBG offers. It’s so very peaceful and serene. Very uplifting.
Those Japanese Gardens were very beautiful and breathtaking. Just what we all need during the Corona Crisis!
Thank you for the lovely stroll through beautiful BBG. We needed to see that serene, tranquil oasis at this difficult time.
Very nicely done indeed.
Thank you soooo much!!!! Such a beautiful video. So quiet, so peaceful. I painfully missed this garden. I love Central Park and NY Botanical Garden, but BBG is my favorite garden. I visit often, and I am so sorry I am missing the cherry blossoms blooming… Brilliant idea in sharing this with us. Stay safe.
This made my day. I miss BBG so so much. Thank you.
Amazing and beautiful garden.
Wonderful! Thanks so much! Notice how crispy the images are with the reduced pollution.
I was in Phoenix but got to visit one of my favorite places in springtime. Thank you!
This is a lovely gift. Thank you.
Beauty and serenity in nature—just what we need. Thank you for making this video clip for all of us. You made my day.
This is incredible! Any way you could post pictures of the tulips? I will miss seeing them the most out of all the lovely flowers and gardens.
Although terribly sad that we can’t see these in person this year, this was a lovely virtual stroll through our place of peace and beauty in Brooklyn! Thank you!
Thank you BBG for the wonderful tour. Seeing the Garden with a new perspective like this means so much to me and perhaps all BBG patrons.
Thanks so much for making this! It’s my favorite time to visit and this is helping a lot :)
Thank you for this incredibly beautiful film. I left NYC a little while ago and always loved my trips to the BBG. This video makes me miss it even more. Thank you for reminding me.
For several years now I have made weekly visits the to Garden each spring to watch the progression of budding and blooming. I was saddened to miss it this season and this was food for the soul. Thank you, and any more would be much appreciated. The bonsai collection would be wonderful to view in this way.
I watched this live and it was overall enjoyable — however the constant panning and spinning seriously detracted from my enjoyment. This was probably aggravated by the need to “speed walk” through the garden. Any chance you can add a 1/2 speed option to the playback console?
What beauty in a not-so-beautiful world.
Lovely this time of year…. memories of the BBG as a child being magical as it is now!
Thank you for showing us a beautiful movie of the Japanese garden. My home town Kyoto, Japan has many gardens but yours is equally beautiful or better. Singing birds and siren of ambulance is a perfect mix of New York.
The birdsong added to the silence, the moving camera to the quiet.
My wife and I are moved to tears to see the memorial cherry tree ‘Yae-Beni-Shidare’ dedicated in memory of our two sons. We had planned to visit your garden after nine years, but this pandemic prevented us from traveling from Japan. What a marvelous video you showed us. We appreciate your great cinematography. Thank you so much.
A beautiful garden at its most magical time of the year, thank you so much. The videography is magnificent, wonderfully accomplished. In all a much appreciated meditative moment in time.
On my maiden trip to New York, I stumbled upon BBG. Instead of an hour, I ended up spending the whole morning walking inside the Garden.
This is a beautiful reminder of one of my most memorable times in the city. Thank you.
Shared by a friend of mine, thanking her for it! Another reason to visit NY. Patiently leading on my travel list!
Breathtakingly beautiful, and the birdsong was heavenly! Like Paradise on earth.
Thank you for this beautiful tour. It brought back many wonderful memories of growing up at the BBG and as a teenager, leading tours though this lovely garden.
Thank you for this video. It brightened my day immensely.
Wonderful. I live in Westchester now but was a guide at the garden for a few seasons when we lived in Brooklyn. Thank you. Wonderful memories.
Thank you for this beautiful, meditative tour through the Japanese Garden. The gentle, sensitive cinematography was outstanding. The stillness and beauty were a balm to our saddened souls during this pandemic. Thank you for this gift on a day when so many of us cannot be with those we love, but can share watching this virtual tour.
Beautifully done. Thank you.