Images of Gardens of the J. Paul Getty Center & Museum, Los Angeles

Following on from a recent post: Buildings as Art: The J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles California, I promised this post on the gardens of the J. Paul Getty Center. The gardens add so much visual splendor to the Getty Center. It blends with the artwork inside the buildings as well as the artistic architecture of the buildings themselves.

Central Garden

Rudbeckia flowers with Getty building in background

The main masterpiece is the Central Garden. It was designed by artist Robert Irwin. Planning for the garden began in 1992, construction started in 1996 and was completed in December 1997.

A stream winds down a tree-lined walkway to an open plaza are of hedges and flowering bushes. It finishes with a waterfall over a reflection pool. There are over 500 species of plants within the garden.

It wouldn’t be the Getty without the iconic Bougainvilleas protuding from trunked metal rods, which when flowering display beautiful hot pink hues against the blue sky.

“Always changing, never twice the same,” one of Irwin’s quotes, is carved into the plaza floor. It describes the evolution of the plants in the garden.

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Getty Center Succulent Cactus Garden

Succulent Garden

Not to be outdone, the Succulent Garden is truly a sight to be seen. It’s behind the West Pavillion hanging over the cliff face with the backdrop of the Los Angeles city skyline in the distance. Given the drought conditions Southern California have suffered in the last 5 or so years, this garden would require little maintenance.

It takes a team of 32 full-time gardeners to keep the Getty Gardens looking as fine as they do.

Click on each image to view a high res version.