Small but exquisite, the Japanese Garden is one of the oldest areas of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, begun in Piedmont Park in the 1960's before the Atlanta Botanical Garden was chartered.
The meditation garden contains the "three old friends" typically found in a Japanese garden: pine and/or stone, which symbolize longevity and age; bamboo, which is symbolic of resilience in the face of adversity; and blooming fruit trees, which represent youth and renewal of life. A meticulously pruned Virginia pine gives the illusion of great age and shade a number of dwarf conifers and Japanese maples. Other specimens include the weeping Japanese apricot, which blooms in the depths of winter, three Stewartia pseudocamellia, a weeping Styrax japonica and black bamboo.