The award-winning Mohonk gardens date back to the time when Mohonk's founder Albert K. Smiley nurtured the wild plants already on the property. When the property was purchased in 1869, the rugged pitch pine and laurel reached to the doorstep of the original building.

With a few struggling blossoms near the lake shore, the long history of the gardens' creation began. Smiley himself oversaw the design and care for his first gardens, and expanded their breadth and complexity to the formal gardens we see today.

The Mohonk gardens were designed within the picturesque or romantic styles of landscaping: irregular of form, having variety and boldness of composition, and fitting into scenery of a more rugged nature.

In 1998, a Victorian maze was added next to the Rose Garden, providing old-fashioned entertainment for the gardens' visitors.

Mohonk Mountain House has received national recognition for the plantings and stewardship of the grounds, and in 1997, Mohonk's gardens were honored to receive the Grand Award for Grounds Maintenance from the Professional Grounds Management Association.

Please join us for a tour of our garden on Wednesdays at 11am.

Information on the Gardens and Greenhouse at Mohonk Mountain House, please email gardening@mohonk.com.