Glen Burnie Gardens

Explore the Gardens

The seven-acre gardens that surround the Glen Burnie House are both impressive and intimate. Designed by MSV benefactor Julian Wood Glass Jr. and his partner at the time, R. Lee Taylor, the creation of these formal gardens began in 1956 and evolved over the latter half of the twentieth century. Today the MSV maintains this living collection in a manner that is considerate of the garden creators’ vision for the landscape. See a map of the garden here.

The Glen Burnie Gardens invite discovery and were designed to support formal entertaining. Boxwood plantings are present throughout the site and create the Parterre Garden and Knot Garden. The Rose Garden is comprised of hundreds of individual plants, and the Perennial Garden presents flowers in a rainbow of colors summer through fall. The Vegetable Garden is planted in a formal pattern that changes annually. Bordering the northern edge of the property, Kathie’s Spring Garden was added to the formal landscape in 2015. The garden boasts a pond and a variety of trees, shrubs, bulbs, and spring ephemerals.

The landscape also includes a garden of Asian influences and a Water Garden, where golden trout swim in a spring-fed pond and water cascades down a natural embankment. The Pink Pavilion and Fountain Courtyard, frequently used for entertaining, are also visitor favorites. In addition, the historic Wood and Glass Family Cemetery is part of the landscape. The Glen Burnie Gardens are open for self-guided tours from April through December.

Explore the gardens on one of these self-guided tours:

The Gardens of Glen Burnie
The Gardens of Glen Burnie (mobile friendly download)
Sculpture Stroll
Contemporary Sculpture Walk (Kathie’s Spring Garden)