Green Animals Topiary Garden

Beautifully maintained and serene garden spaces! A nice, quick, escape into nature. The butterflies were so fun to watch 😍. This only took about 20-30 minutes to walk through, with not many other people present as it was off-season. There's a small parking lot right out front, and restrooms are available as well. If you're planning to visit any of the other mansions as well, price wise you're better off to get the combo tickets (Breakers +1 or +2 properties)

Such a beautiful garden. Mid July I'm told is peak season for the flowers. We will definitely return next year!

Trying to be gentle because it was the end of the season. But it looks like they might’ve fired the regular gardener, because topiary was more abstract than realism haha. I will probably be visiting again, but mainly because I’m hoping to see the garden as it’s been pictured, not as I saw it. Still beautiful, just a little disappointing. Gonna aim for spring/early summer next year.

A fun addition to our trip to Newport. As garden fans, we enjoyed this spot immensely. We even went back the next day to snap some photos of geraniums we couldn’t stop thinking about.

A hidden gem sitting along Narragansett bay. Plenty of places to sit, relax and enjoy all the beautiful flowers and plants. It takes a little maneuvering to get down close and see Narragansett bay.

Beautiful afternoon walking. Benches spaced well . Lots to see . A delight for the senses .We were not told we could tour the home. Bathrooms not handicapped assemble. Enjoyed the bamboo section.Lked the floral colors and varieties.

What a wonderful place to visit. Full of amazing topiary artistry. There is a 160 year old tree right out front. Walking around the path you'll see all kinds of interesting flowers, bushes and trees. Very kid friendly with all of the animal shapes they will be very entertained. Good place to spend an afternoon with the family.

This was so cute. I'm so glad that we took the time to go over there and check it out. Totally worth it.

This was an absolutely beautiful spot. There were a ton of pollinators, enjoying the flowers, including monarch butterflies, and hummingbirds. I really enjoyed my visit.

If you're in Newport and planning to visit any of the mansions, make sure you include the Topiary Garden in your plans. I had originally purchased a duo ticket for the Breakers & Marble House. On the last day of our trip we decided to squeeze in the Topiary Garden as well. The staff was friendly and explained that our Duo tickets were able to be upgraded to trios so we only paid an additional $8 each to enjoy the gardens. I think as a slight up-charge it was really worthwhile! Probably not worth doing as a stand-alone but we did enjoy it as a culmination to the mansion tours. The gardens are incredibly lush and peaceful to stroll around. And adults and children alike will fall in love with the topiaries! I was definitely charmed by them. It took us about 45 minutes to see the entirety of the garden and afterwards we decided to sit on the lawn with some Del's lemonade and enjoy the view of the Narragansett. The lawn is sprawling and offers some seating but if you're going during peak season, you might not snag a chair so perfect opportunity to bring a blanket and pack a picnic if you want to make a full afternoon experience. They do have restrooms onsite. Note that the gardens are located on the Brayton House property and the house is currently closed to the public. Also know before you go that the Brayton house and Topiary Gardens are located about thirty minutes driving distance from the breakers. It isn't clustered closely with the other mansions so you will need to drive over to Portsmouth.

We stopped by the Green Animals Topiary Gardens after visiting Marble House. You can get a combined ticket, I believe. The topiaries are really nicely maintained and we had a lot of fun walking around trying to identify them all. It seemed like they had some new ones that weren't on the map that they had printed, which was nice. We really had a lot of fun with those ones. The grounds themselves are very nice and there are tons of shaded benches throughout, if you wanted to just take a break and enjoy the outdoors. Staff were very nice and friendly. There's ample parking as well, which is an added plus.

Green Animals Topiary Gardens is located in Portsmouth, RI and overlooks Narragansett Bay. My friend and I went in August 2023. Tickets were $25.00 and it was very easy to purchase the tickets online. Parking is available in the adjacent St. Philomena School parking lot. It is not far, just right across the street and there is plenty of parking spaces. When we arrived, we were given a welcome brochure with a guide to the garden and the topiaries and a sculpture scavenger hunt page. There are more than 80 topiary pieces on the 7-acre property. We spent about an hour and half walking around. The topiary animals were huge and very well designed. There were also flowers and a small gift shop. When we went, there was also a Sean Kenney's Nature Connects exhibition. This exhibition used LEGO pieces to create large creations and there is a display of how long it took to put it together and how many pieces were used. We had a wonderful time at Green Animals Topiary Gardens! The residence, Brayton House, is closed to the public. The staff were very friendly.

This was interesting but I don't know that it's worth the $20 per adult admission but if you bundle it with another of the Newport Mansions, it might be worthwhile. I spent about 40 minutes walking the gardens and enjoying the various topiary, many of which are super creative and very nicely done. Lots of great photographs and things to see. Definitely something the kids will appreciate. I did not find it to be all that. Maybe you'll enjoy it more than I did. [Review 18644 overall - 64 in Rhode Island - 2166 of 2022.]

If you love gardens this place is MAGICAL. We go every year and it's always a little different with whatever annuals they planted that year. Our kids love the topiaries and there are many to see! Walking the grounds is fun. I'm the past you could go inside the mansion but since covid that has been closed to the public. They often have artwork there which adds to the experience. One year it was bugs and flora carved from wood. Most recently they have an incredible Lego exhibit.

This is a beautiful garden that's well maintained. You can find many topiary pieces that are scattered throughout the garden, including bear, elephant, and many more. They make for a perfect photo-op. There's a small rose garden and herbs garden as well. We spent about an hour here and had a fun time.

Lions, and tigers, and bears... oh my! That's okay, they are all amazingly sculpted animals. This is definitely the most unique of all the Newport mansions, and it never fails to impress! What a talent these groundskeeper have to be able to transform plants into such amazing works of art. Definitely a must see if you have never checked them out before!

Love, love, love this place! Gorgeous gardens, and of course the topiaries!!! So well done. Nice brochure to explain the history and highlight the different topiaries. There was an exhibit of bugs intermingled in the garden. By bugs, I mean 15' high wood sculptures of bugs. Absolutely beautiful. And information about the value of these bugs in the native ecosystem. Would definitely recommend visiting this place!

This place is cute! I came here on a college summer trip and it was a fun spot - I loved the "green animals" (look how cute this pokemon is), there are so many of them and they're so adorable. Also in the summer time there are lots of nice flowers around, and also these cool train tracks. LOTS of photo spots, great place to get some fresh air and admire some animals, flowers and just walk around!

Beautiful grounds-plenty of parking. $25 is a pretty big ask for the amount of time you are there. Must purchase ticket in advance or on the grounds by QR code which is annoying. If you are planning on going to one of the Newport mansions then get a multi mansion ticket.

Went back again to check out the Big Bugs last month! Very cool, lots of fun critters to check out! The grounds were lovely as always. It's a pretty quick self guided tour of the property but its always nice to spend some time sitting back and enjoying the view.

Yes, it's beautiful here and you can take lots of photos and have a good time. I was just expecting more. I would do this again or recommend it for $10 per person, but for me... $20 is way too high for something like this. I think it was way overpriced. Like I said, it is beautiful and interesting. They have a small museum there which was closed and you may stay as long as you would like. The staff was not friendly - at least not to me - and it was nice, but again... not worth it for $20 per person.

We enjoyed our visit to Green Animals Topiary garden! The gardens and property were beautiful and well maintained. A gorgeous, picturesque estate with a view of the bay. This is a family friendly place. Verified service animals only. A great day!

Beautiful gardens, lovely variety of flowers, peaceful place to walk, enjoy, meditate and be one with nature. Went to see the Bug wooden sculptures but truly enjoyed the entire experience!

So beautifully maintained. Large assortment of flowers & just overall lovely and colorful. There is a little museum house (which was not open when i attended due to covid), public restrooms and no time as to how long you can stay. If you walk towards the back you can see the ocean and a railroad track. Also good area to picnic in. Parking lot is not that big.

Beautiful property! Gardens have been overrun with invasive plants and the topiaries need to be trimmed. The flowers that were blooming were very pretty. There were very few visitors when we were there. The main problem for my family was getting into the facility. The woman in charge was unfamiliar with the rules and refused entrance unless we paid additional money. Once we got her to read the pamphlet she gave us, she realized she was incorrect. By then, we were upset and frustrated. I wish we had used the time for another house tour.

I've lived in RI for quite some time and finally made it here. Well worth it! The Topiary sculptures are scattered around other gardens and the amount of work that goes into maintaining the grounds is impressive. There is a historic house to tour, but we skipped this. You can walk around the property and sit looking out at the bay. Good for kids and adults.

Very cute garden worth checking out if you are in the Newport area. Different shapes of everything from animals, chairs, birds, ships, etc!

What a lovely garden! The properties garden is quite large and well kept. So many beds with beautiful flowers and topiary cut boxwood. The garden has several sections housing various different types of plants and garden styles and one large section is all about vegetables, which is very interesting and colourful too. And this garden seems to be popular with butterflies, we did see so many of them, even some really beautiful large ones. Can't say anything about the house, other than that it is impressive and beautiful for the outside. But unfortunately it was closed the day we visited. Also the staff in the Ticket & Gift shop was super friendly and we had a nice talk. If you're interested in gardening and plants, this property is definitely worth a visit.

We purchased a 3-location pass for the Newport Mansions, and this was our last house. It was a bit of a drive from the main area, and we got there a minute before the last entry time and luckily we got in. There was an employee standing right at the gate who was *very eager* to close up for the day so get there on time! We got to walk around the garden area, and it was very nice. The shapes were delightful and interesting although you can't touch most of them. There's little shade so it can get hot! Would recommend if you're into this kind of stuff!

Thomas and Alice Brayton must have been very unusual and very cool. Thomas bought a beautiful Victorian estate over looking Narragansett Bay in 1872. Nothing unusual about that, this was the time when very rich people were buying or building huge homes in Newport and Aquidneck Island. The strange part is when Thomas started cutting the shrubbery and hedges into weird animal and geometric shapes. Of course the snooty Victorian neighbors were shocked, outraged and indignant but Thomas didn't care because he enjoyed his bizarre shrubbery so much that he dragged over a master shrub cutter from Europe to real start chopping things up. His daughter Alice apparently was also a shrub shaper because she continued her father's passion with a vengeance. When Alice finally died in 1970 she left the grounds, mansion and of course the funky shrubbery to the Newport Preservation Society. It claims to be the largest and most creative topiary garden in the country , which is easy to believe because they aren't exactly common. In fact except for a friend, who with very limited success, tries to cut her shrubs in the shape of kitties, I can't think of any other shaped shrubs. Yeah, the animals were cool but I was more intrigued by the geometric figures. Some interesting and bizarre stuff. The numerous flower gardens were also impressive and I imagine in the spring the whole area must be blooming with colors and smells. The mansion and grounds are located in an interesting place, with gorgeous views of undeveloped Narragansett Bay to the east and the new, gigantic wind turbine just to the west. A strange juxtaposition of the neoteric and anachronistic. The only negatives are the somewhat high admission price and the fact the blasted mansion is only open on weekends. Of course we went during the week so I didn't get to see the inside of the huge house but judging from what I saw from the outside it had a causal and bucolic feel, quite different from the huge ostentatious castles of the Vanderbilt's and Astors looming over on Belluvue in Newport. Of course a small gift shop was available to buy books, crummy t-shirts and trinkets. An interesting, unique and strange place. I would love to be able to go back in time to see what the high society Newport socialite neighbors thought of Thomas and Alice's hobby. Fortunately Alice was generous enough to leave the gardens and house to the Preservation Society so future generations can enjoy and appreciate the singular weirdness of her father. Edward Scissor Hands would be proud.

We had such a wonderful day at the Green Animals Topiary Gardens. It is such a unique place to visit . The grounds are so well cared for . This is a must see for all ages . The gardens are a part of the Newport Mansions Preservation Society. So if you have a membership card you. can use it there.

What an amazing experience. I haven't seen anything like it in the Northeast. We lucked out with a beautiful day, and it was a beautiful and unusual experience. As luck had it, we had a thunderstorm in the middle of our walk, but it was a quick passing storm, which dwindled the crowd down nicely and allowed us to take some great photos. Highly recommend coming here when you are in Newport.

Every season brings something new and different at the gardens. Kid friendly, beautiful gardens, scenic water views and rolling lawn. I love it here for a perfect afternoon

On a recent trip to Newport, I was looking for things to do other than the Gilded age mansions and I came across the Green Animals Topiary Garden. Green Animals Estate sits towards the end of a beautiful tree-lined road, so the drive itself was a treat! As we arrived, the first thing I noticed was the water.  The estate sits overlooking the Narragansett River, and the view is amazing!  It is very easy to see why Thomas Brayton chose that spot.  Everything is clearly marked, so it was easy to find our way to the admission area.  The woman that greeted us was fantastic, I wish that I would have been able to get her name.  She gave us several different knowledge nuggets about the estate.  There were two different options to tour the estate: one option was a guided tour of the Brayton house, which also included entrance to the gardens; or there was just the entrance to the gardens.  Since we were under a bit of a time constraint we opted for just the gardens. In an effort to see everything, I worked my way around the outside of the gardens, hugging the outer perimeter.  I found myself walking through beautifully sculpted doorways of greenery, into flower gardens, and vegetable gardens.  There were several areas with various flowers and veggies, it seemed like there was at least one of every type of flower in existence! One of the other touches that I thought was extremely poignant was the carved chair and the memorial bench.  Sitting on the large veranda, overlooking the Narragansett River, there is a memorial bench dedicated to George and Mary Mendonca.  I imagine that they enjoyed sitting out on the veranda enjoying the view.  The carved chair was not something that I had ever seen before, so I decided to sit and enjoy the day... and the view. All in all it was a great experience. So much so that I wrote an article about it. We will definitely be returning later this year.

Wow! If you like gardens and shaped hedges, then this is a must see! Take a stroll away from the mansions and walk among the beautiful greenery and live sculptures. You won't be disappointed. Brava!

The topiary gardens are a fun part of the Newport Historical society. If you're interested in learning more about the history of Newport, definitely make the gardens a stop on your tour! This is a self-guided tour of a historical Home and the gardens themselves. There are a bunch of fun animals and beautiful flowers to see. Fun for a quick stop full of natural beauty!

This place is pretty cool and is part of the Newport Preservation Society Mansions. However keep in mind, this is nowhere near Bellevue Ave and the rest of the Newport Mansions and is about 30 minutes outside Newport on a long winding desolate road in Portsmouth. The house that sits on the property is not the main focal point of this tour since its pretty much an ordinary large farmhouse. The grounds it sits on are massive and overlook an bay inlet on top of a hill. The gardens in this place are unreal and contain not only topiary shaped figures but there are tons of plants, flowers and even a vegetable and fruit garden. The place is manicured to perfection and well taken care of. This is a decent place out of any of the mansions to take kids, however be prepared for the hike out of town to visit this place, about 15-20 miles away from downtown Newport.

Though probably not to the fault of the workers (they've had some bad weather), you can tell this place used to be a lot more majestic than it currently is. There are some neat topiaries, but also a good amount you have to imagine because of the damage. The staff are all extremely friendly, and we had a good time walking through the grounds. Good place to spend about half an hour.

A beautiful place with a lot of history. The house and grounds burst with personality, and unlike many of the big mansions, you can actually (almost) relate to the woman who owned the property. The topiaries and gardens are lush and green this spring, and the grounds - from the garden paths to the waterfront lawn - are downright lovely. If you want flash, go to The Breakers. This, however, turned out to be one of my favorites among the Newport Mansions set.

I came here with my girlfriend after learning of this existence from a RI scavenger hunt. I honestly thought it was a bit too expensive ($15 per person), but it was an experience that cannot be easily replicated around New England. The garden creatures are quite unique and I had a great time posing pictures next to the green animals. I would recommend this place as you're driving back from Newport towards Bristol (if you've already purchased a multi-house tour package) since it was quite fun. But I'd skip the house tour, the dolls were kinda creepy.

Green Animals is a great place for photo ops. The house itself is quaint in comparison to the other mansions, which diminish it in size and splendor. Obviously the garden is the main attraction at this site, though there is an antique toy museum on the top floor of the house which is comprised of about four large bedrooms. The toys were an unexpected highlight. A few of the dollhouses were a whimsical spectacle, and there were other toys ranging from dolls, to games, to military miniature displays. The garden was gorgeous at the beginning of June, though there were several landscapers still grooming and shaping some of the topiaries. On a weekday afternoon, we essentially had the garden to ourselves so we took our time strolling through, smelling flowers, taking photos, and gazing at the various topiaries in animal and geometric shapes. The garden is actually rather large, and has much more to see than just the topiaries. The location is definitely off the beaten path of the other Newport homes. You will have to drive some time on a main road with traffic lights and strip malls, but I do think that Green Animals was worth the visit. It is kid friendly as well: the vibe is relaxed and the house is cute and casual. I felt like it was worth the visit to see something more unique than the other mansions. A memorable location.

Fantastic, well-kept grounds. The gardens by itself are worth the 20min drive from Newport, as they are managed by the Newport Preservation Society. Weird plant-shaped animals are just a part of its charm. We went for the annual children's festival. Great event because it was nearly all RI businesses. Local catering sold small fair-type food, another ran bouncie houses, multiple musicians or street performers, Del's, and horse riding. Only the signature performers (trampoline athletes this year) were brought in from outside. Part of the TG is the waterline of upper Narragansett Bay, so temperatures remain modest most days. In the summer though, always bring water and a hat. Nice little hour long jaunt.

Brian's review prompted my 2 cents. I totally dig this place simply because it's so whimsical. I wish I had gotten to know the Brayton's. They seem like my kind of folks. I'm not a topiary nut, but I love the funny stuff they have done here. If you are down in hollering range of this place, I sincerely suggest that you pop in for a view at the topiary splendor.

Spectacular hidden gem in Portsmouth RI. Manicured gardens, formal and playful. A fantastic display of larger than life topiary, estate and gift shop. inspirational

MUST SEE! It was absolutely amazing to see all of the different things you can turn a bush or tree into! When we first walked in we were greeted by I believe her name was Anita who was probably the friendliest and sweetest person I'd ever met. She began on telling us about the history of the Topiary Gardens and then ends up pulling out the map and is showing all the best places to go and other things to see! She was such a sweetheart and because of her we ended up making the most out of our day with the suggestions she gave to us! I really hope she gets to read this :)

The grounds itself are spectacular. My children are always mesmerized by the animals shapes. An enchanting place indeed. The staff in the entrance was rude however.

I think the admission price of $16.00 per person is steep for what you get. The price includes a tour of the historical house which used to be open so you could walk the house on your own. They have now moved to scheduled tours. I arrived with my niece at 3:15 and the next tour was not until 4:30 which we were not willing to wait for because the gardens don't take more than 30-45 minutes to view. The gardens and the house tour should be priced separately. I felt I overpaid considering the tour was not available.

This place is unexpectedly part of the Newport Mansions collection and had we known that ahead of time we would've made it out first property en route from Boston. The house is boring and the experience awkward with the friendly old ladies, but the property far exceeds the house, even if the creations were recently roughed up by weather.

As summer draws to an end our family is rushing to get all of the must RI must dos checked off our list. After reading several children's bed time stories that highlight the gardens the kids were ready to go exploring. We showed up with 2 hours before the house closed and after a quick peek inside we decided that with 2 young kids we were better off skipping the mansion tour. As we set out to see the gardens I noticed that there were several bushes untrimmed and part of the grounds were in need of some weeding. I like to assume that some seasons display the character of the gardens better then others and the end of the summer is just not one of them. We enjoyed walking around and seeing all the shrubs and trying to identify what each one was. I enjoyed looking at all the flowers and the monarch butterflies that were flying overhead. The bamboo maze was lacking, but the rocking horses spread throughout the grounds made up for that. Overall I am happy to check this off of my to do list, but don't see myself returning anytime soon. *Quick tip, if you present a Military ID you pay full price for the tour, but get a ticket to another mansion free. Even better you have up to a year to use the second ticket!

Cool spot....really relaxing and fun for kids. When we went there the animals weren't trimmed yet and so bushes were still growing in. I don't think this is as amazing as the mansions, but if you want to let your kids run around and enjoy some quiet time and nature this is the spot. A bit outside of town....but worth the trip on a nice sunny day.

For history this is an off-beat place to go. And we went the last weekend that it would be open this year. I was afraid that it wasn't going to be fantastic because it's fall. I figured the flowers and the gardens would be dead and I'd only get to see the trimmed bushes in the shape of animals. And I was wrong. To be fair the autumn season is the last season to have flowers. The flowers that were growing here were of many different colors and quite showy. The day was overcast but I didn't mind. The grounds were manicured, the buildings in beautiful shape. I've seen the movie Fast, Cheap and Out of Control that features Green Animals Topiary. I've also visited a long time ago in 1988. I swear there is more here than there was then. One of the gardens looked to be totally dug up yet still designed and ready for plants to be planted. There was an arbor with gourds and another with grapes (they were beyond ripe and I dared C to eat one of the shriveled globes,) the leaves of the plants hadn't passed so the arbor was still lush with foliage. The grape arbor had a rose crawling up one end. I don't remember the fish pond being there the last time I was here. It looked like the caretakers were getting it ready for the cold weather. It was a little crass that two goldfish were dead and after joking with C about it heard another couple announce the same after we had passed on to the dahlia beds. Maybe they were alive in the morning and had passed just recently. One of the vegetable gardens were filled with different varieties of chard and kale. There's a bamboo stand that is small, we didn't explore it. I enjoyed the gardens, arbors and shaped shrubs. I enjoy strolling through yards and trails and looking at flowers and plants. It was serene and very old fashioned. We went into the mansion and walked through the first and second floors looking at the furnished rooms and the toy exhibit. The curators were very sweet, the little old lady giving me a little history of the place and the lady who lived there until the 1970s and who'd died at 93. The very tall elderly gentleman and I had interesting talk about a man he knew who kept his house cool by rigging up ice in the top of his house before it was even thought of. I stayed too long, C was incredibly polite waiting as I talked to these people ad listened to their stories. If you have kids make sure that you time it so they don't get bored. There is a map of the grounds and pictures of the topiary shrubs so that you could make a game out of finding each shrub to keep kids interested. You can bring a picnic onto the grounds for lunch or dinner (it's the only attraction in the collection of The Preservation Society of Newport's attractions that allows you to bring a picnic onto the grounds.) The bathrooms are in one of the quaint out buildings.

It was a nice place to go to if you are into flowers or nature. Little too expensive ($15 per person ) for just taking picture around . In the other hand the house it's a little scary inside a lot of antiques and two floor to look at it

It was a good experience, it was fun and interesting. Also they had such a nice peace of history and good collection of old toys.

The topiaries are beautiful. Sure would like to know what the house looks like. We arrive at 2:50, purchase tickets. Actually only wanting tickets for the gardens, but we were informed that house and garden tickets go together. So we purchased both. We then procede to the garden, spend 20 minutes touring it. We then go to the house to find out that tours for the house are at 11:00, 1:00, 3:00, and 5:00 !!! So it's a wait of almost 2 hours for the next house tour. If we had only been informed when we purchased the tickets, that the house tour would be beginning very soon, we would have taken the house tour first. Upon complaining,we were told we did't arrive in time for the 3:00 house tour. Don't know how the house looked inside, but $25 for two people to see some (admittedly creatively) trimmed shrubs, is a little pricey.

Not worth the $15 admission per person. Half the topiaries were quite sparse probably due to the dry summer we had. We took our 2 year old and he did enjoy running around the grounds. However, $31 for a couple to walk around a garden is just too steep. We should have just gone and enjoyed Colt State Park for free. True we would have missed out on seeing the topiaries, but we found they left something to be desired anyway.

We visited here and were very impressed with the green animals shaped out of living shrubs . We recognized most of the shapes. There was also a nice vegetable garden where the food produced is donated to a food bank in Falls River. It took us about 3 hours to see everything in a leisurely fashion. It was a bit pricey but the funds are needed to upkeep the grounds. There was also a small 2 story house which was included in the price. It had an extensive doll and toy soldier display taking up several rooms of the second floor.

My sister, niece and I were visiting the area on a planned vacation to RI. We decided to add the Green Animals to our itinery. Upon arrival, there was no parking available and we were forced to park on the street. We all agreed the fifteen dollar entrance fee seemed a bit high, but I believed it would be well worth it for the photo opportunities alone. Unfortunately, the garden (where ninety percent of the topiary animals are located) is astonishingly small. Really, really small. The flowers were lovely, but the animals appeared tired and in need of replacing. The museum was run-of-the mill and equally unimpressive. It was far from the whimsical, fair-tale scene I was expecting and hoping for. I recommend saving your fifteen dollars and stick to the pictures online.