The Duke Gardens welcome center was part of the recently finished rennovation. Photo by Saul Janiak Stein
Cherry blossoms attract thousand to Duke Gardens every spring
Thousands of people visit the Duke Gardens every spring to see the row of 22 Akebono Cherry Trees in bloom.
The trees were first planted in the front row of the gardens In 2010. They matured in 2020, and the crowds seem to get larger every year.
The Duke Gardens has long been popular with Duke students and Durham visitors alike, but according to executive director Bill LeFevre, the popularity of the cherry trees is attributed to social media.
“A couple years ago it went viral on Instagram,” LeFevre said while sitting in the newly-built welcome center on Saturday, April 12. “Ever since then, it’s insane how many people try to come here.”
According to an April 7 News & Observer article, in 2024 there were 624,000 visitors. Even during the renovation this spring, 20,000 people came just to see the row of cherry trees.
LeFevre said the garden’s Japanese influence began in 1984, when staff created a dam to control flooding. The dam created the current pond that houses the gardens’ iconic red bridge and population of ducks.
“The director at the time, Doctor [William Louis] Culberson, was a fan of Japanese gardens and culture,” LeFevre said.
Culberson, along with lead horticulturist and curator Paul Jones and landscape artist Linda Jewel, began the creation of the Asiatic Arboretum.
“Other than the Cherry Allée (row of trees) there’s a large number of cherries in the Asiatic Arboretum,” LeFevre said.
While the Arboretum was finished in 1998, the gardens have continued new expansions and additions since then. The most recent of which is the renovation of the center at the front of the gardens. The Garden Gateway project featured the creation of a new reception area and small cafe at the entrance to gardens.
But even with the new renovations, the cherry trees remain the main reason for so many visitors, explained LeFevre.
“It’s insane how many people try to come here when the cherries are in bloom,” he said. “We have as many as 18 to 20 thousand people a day.”
The new entrance serves as a way to help guide all the patrons. But with all these people coming to the gardens, much help is still needed to keep up all their facilities.
According to Lefevre they have around 35 people on staff, half of which work in the horticulture department. But most of their work actually comes from non-staff members. “But we have 250 volunteers,” LeFevre said. “Duke students work here, a lot of work studies… at any given semester we probably have 12 or 15.”
