UT Gardens: An Oasis in the Heart of Knoxville

UT Gardens is open seven days a week from sunrise to sunset with free admission. This Knoxville treasure is located just off Neyland Drive, minutes from downtown Knoxville. Visit their website before you go because it provides not only a printable map but also a mobile-friendly app which shows you where you are in relation to the gardens. Just make sure to click on “allow location services” and you’ll show up as a little blue dot. I love technology…well, at least when it works.

Once you get to the Gardens, you’ll be parking in a lot located opposite the entrance to the gardens. Now here’s where you need to be careful. There are only 10 parking spaces reserved for the gardens and they are clearly marked with signs for 2-hour visitor parking. According to the website, you must park only in these spaces as the remainder of the spaces are for permit holders and you will be ticketed. Make sure you read to the end because I discovered a secret about parking here.

I’m looking at redoing my yard, so I was very excited to check out UT Gardens. This is a great place to go to get ideas on what you might like to do with your yard.

There are several smaller gardens that make up UT Gardens. The Children’s Garden provides an enchanting environment for kids to enjoy nature. There are delightful places to explore, tunnels to crawl through, flowers to smell, and butterflies to watch as they flit from flower to flower.  Near the entrance there are picnic tables where families can enjoy lunch before running back to explore Charlotte’s corner.

Further into the Gardens you’ll stumble upon Maria’s Garden. This is my personal favorite. When entering this shady garden setting, I immediately felt a difference in temperature. As I strolled past the glossy emerald hostas and the multi-colored huchera I saw several places to sit and rest. There are two Adirondack chairs near the beginning of this garden perfect for a chat with a friend.  When cooler temperatures return, I think I’ll find my way back to Maria’s Garden with a cup of coffee and a pastry and enjoy the peace and serenity of this quiet garden.

As you continue strolling through the garden, you don’t want to miss the freshwater wetland area where you’ll be amazed to see countless dragonflies darting above the water. Continuing along the boardwalk, you can see the gazebo just ahead.

That gazebo, along with more than 130 varieties of roses and two waterfalls with koi ponds make up the Beale Family Rose Garden. Established in 2009 by the Beale family, this is the largest public rose garden in East Tennessee. Let me just say as a person who has killed more than one rose bush in my life, I was impressed with the vibrant red roses, and fan-like ferns that framed the waterfalls.

I spent a little bit of time here watching the waterfalls cascade into the koi ponds and dreaming of a rose garden of my own where the roses didn’t wilt prematurely and the bushes crumble before my eyes. Of course, I also spent a great deal of time trying to catch the perfect picture….it’s not quite what I wanted, but it will do.

I actually visited UT gardens three separate times while I worked on this post. The first time I visited I never made it past the rose garden, and the second time I spent way too much time in Maria’s Garden. It wasn’t until my third visit that I took the time to wander through the Helping Hands Kitchen Garden which produces “organically and sustainably grown produce, flowers, and herbs”. According to the student working in the garden, all the produce is donated to local food banks.

And I haven’t even talked about the enormous Hibiscuses (is that the plural?) that I saw. Some of those things were as big as a dessert plate.

Art in the Garden is a program that invites local artists to create and display their “adaptation” of a theme chosen by the gardens. Previous themes have included: All the Buzz: A Bee Exhibit; Home Sweet Home: A Birdhouse Exhibit; and Fanciful Foxes.  The current year’s theme is “Stillness in Motion: A Dragonfly Exhibit”. There are 46 dragonflies created by local artists placed throughout the garden. There is also a children’s exhibit mounted on the treehouse wall in the Children’s Garden. In late September, UT Gardens will hold an online auction of both adult and children’s works.

The Gardens also host a spring and fall plant sale. The spring sale is usually held the first Saturday in April, and the fall sale is usually in September of October. You can check here for more information. All I can say is hubby better hide all the credit cards…cos I’m going to buy me some plants.

If you’re a pet owner, you might want to check out the  Howl-o-ween pooch parade and pet expo. It’s a free event, which promotes UT Gardens and the college of Veterinary Medicine. This year will be the 11^th  annual parade. Last year’s event included educational booths, rescue groups, pet businesses and food trucks.

Although the event is free, if you decide to have your pet participate in the parade, there is a fee. Some of the categories from last year include scariest costume, funniest costume, homemade costume, and pop culture/character. I’m thinking Murphy should get dressed up. Maybe we could win the “Bone-A-Fido Best in Show” award.

In addition, UT Gardens hosts summer camps and various workshops throughout the year.

1. UT Gardens is a beautiful garden to visit. While it is located directly off Neyland Drive they have done a great job of providing an oasis of peace. While you can still hear the traffic, it almost becomes white noise, so you really don’t notice it at all.
2. There are plenty of places to sit, and lots of shaded areas. This would be a great place to meet a friend or bring your family for a picnic. In fact, for those of you who work remotely, I found a couple of well-shaded tables that would be wonderful to work at in the early morning or later in the fall.
3. There are restrooms, but I haven’t visited them. In fact, I went in that direction so I could look at them, but I never found them. They might want to work on that signage.
4. There is enough variety to make it worth your time to go. I really dislike spending my time going somewhere and then feeling like I shouldn’t have wasted the time because there wasn’t enough to do.
5. You’ll meet all kinds of interesting people here. I met a man and his wife from Atlanta who were amazed to find such a beautiful garden so close to downtown. I also met two beautiful ladies who were a part of a group of current and former art teachers who have met at UT gardens once a week during the summer for the past twenty years. These two ladies both turned 70 this past week. If you’re reading this post ladies, Happy Birthday!! 

1. Parking — I am amazed that they only offer ten parking spaces. That said, I did call the number listed on the website in case there were no parking spaces available. It didn’t work. But then I called another number listed on the website. The woman who answered said if there weren’t enough parking spaces to go ahead and park in one of the unmarked spaces and write “Visiting Garden” on a piece of paper and place it in a prominent location in your car.  She said if you then got ticketed to call this number – 865-974-7324. Saying all that, I can’t say for sure this will work, so do it at your own risk. However, it is better than just parking somewhere else and not doing anything.
2. In my opinion currently the best time to go to the Gardens is early in the morning. That way you’ll beat the heat and you’ll also miss the summer camps. I got there around 7:30am and stayed until around 9. In that time, I only saw 3 or 4 people. In addition, I had my choice of parking spaces. At 9:30, the spaces were all taken. I’m thinking that it would also be nice to get there right before sunset when the temperatures have gone down some.
3. Bear in mind – there are a lot of bees. I never had a problem with any of them bothering me, but if you have reactions to bees, this might not be the place for you to relax and unwind. Also, many of the paths are not paved, so this could be a consideration. **
4. I was visiting during summer break. If you are visiting during the school year, or during a campus event, or on a football Saturday, it might be more difficult to get in and out.
5. For my photographer friends. If you are a professional photographer who charges a fee for their services, you are asked to become a member of the UT Gardens at the Photographer level ($100 annual fee) if you wish to take advantage of UT Gardens as part of your commercial work. You can find their professional photography policy here.

One final note….this is one of the places you can take your dog as long as he is leashed. I took Murphy early one morning and he loved it. So many new smells for him to discover.

I think Murphy and I will be returning frequently. I love the peace and quiet I found in the early morning at the Gardens. And I enjoyed exploring all the different gardens and seeing plants I had never heard of. I think that is part of the appeal of UT Gardens. It encourages us to dream – to think of what we could create – what we could grow. It gives us a whole list of possibilities for our own yards.

What do you think? If you’ve visited UT Gardens, let me know in the comments.

** My opinions about the accessibility of a business, park, or any other place mentioned on my website are strictly my opinions. Only you are aware of any and all of your accessibility issues, and only you can safely make decisions on what is right for you.