Entry Garden

Wellspring of Wonder

Cheekwood Entry Garden

Gardens have been a celebration of hospitality for millennia and help welcome friends into one’s wondrous private demesne. Hedges delineate an immersive garden retreat dedicated to the pleasures of color, taste, scent and sound. A pair of flowing water tables reflects the feasts and fetes of the Italian Renaissance, where every moment at home was a meaningful experience of beauty. Rich jewel-like place settings invite guests to forget life’s daily bustle and enjoy gracious time together.

Cheekwood

estate & Gardens

With its intact and picturesque vistas, Cheekwood is distinguished as one of the leading Country Place Era estates in the nation. Formerly the family home of Mabel and Leslie Cheek, the 1930s estate, with its 30,000-square-foot mansion and 55 acres of gardens, today serves the public as a botanical garden, arboretum and art museum with furnished period rooms and galleries devoted to American art from the 18th to mid-20th centuries. The property includes 13 distinct gardens, including the Blevins Japanese Garden and the Bracken Foundation Children’s Garden, as well as a 1.5-mile woodland trail featuring outdoor monumental sculpture. Each year, Cheekwood hosts seasonal festivals including Cheekwood in Bloom, Summertime at Cheekwood, Cheekwood Harvest and Holiday LIGHTS. Cheekwood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and nationally as a Level II Arboretum. It has been voted a USA Today Top 10 Botanical Garden three times and in 2021 was recognized by Fodors as one of the 12 Most Beautiful Gardens in the American South. Cheekwood is located 8 miles southwest of downtown Nashville at 1200 Forrest Park Drive. It is open Tuesday through Sunday 9 a.m.–5 p.m., with extended days and hours of operation depending on the season. Visit cheekwood.org for current hours and to purchase advance tickets required for admission.

Special Thanks

Corzine & Co.

Jenny Richter Events

Mary Weber, CHEEKWOOD, DIRECTOR OF HORTICULTURE

Peter Grimaldi, CHEEKWOOD, VICE PRESIDENT OF GARDENS & FACILITIES

Tres Fromme

CHEEKWOOD, DESIGNER IN RESIDENCE

Tres Fromme is currently Cheekwood Estate & Gardens designer in residence and collaborates closely with staff on master planning, garden design and seasonal displays, including Cheekwood Blooms and Holiday LIGHTS.

Tres collaborates with public gardens throughout the United States, all of which have unique identities, cultural and ecological contexts, diverse missions, and distinctive horticultural possibilities. His experience includes a full range of project scales, budgets and scopes – master planning, site design, planting design, gardens for children, seasonal displays and holiday light shows.

His work creatively innovates within the diverse traditions, contexts and functions of each project, while exploring and activating the range of possibilities for people of all ages and backgrounds inherent in gardens.

Peter Grimaldi

CHEEKWOOD, VICE PRESIDENT of gardens & facilities

Peter Grimaldi joined Cheekwood in July 2017 after five years of service at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden as the Director of Horticulture and Facilities. Peter’s early tenure at Cheekwood has focused on organizing the Gardens Department to maximize the potential of an excellent team and working to implement Phase I of the Master Plan via renovations of the Frist Learning Center, the new Bracken Foundation Children’s Garden and redesign of the Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail. Peter’s work at public gardens characterizes a career that includes building not only better garden spaces, but also stronger organizations that effectively leverage physical growth and expansion against mission driven success.

Before his service to public horticulture, Peter worked in commercial landscape construction where he managed large-scale installations throughout the United States including the restoration of President Lincoln’s Summer Cottage in Washington DC; work at Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City; and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Peter has a Bachelor’s of Plant Science from Cornell University with a concentration in ornamental horticulture and floriculture.

Mary Weber

CHEEKWOOD, director of horticulture

Mary Weber serves as the Director of Horticulture at Cheekwood Botanical Garden. In this role, she collaborates with the Vice President of Gardens & Facilities in managing the horticultural operations of the gardens department. In collaboration with Senior Leadership, Mary is fundamental in the management of the seasonal display programs from inception to delivery including Blooms, Summer, Harvest, Holiday LIGHTS, and Orchids.

Mary’s tenure at Cheekwood has focused on operational support and building and maintaining the highest standards in horticulture and landscape maintenance providing visiting guests with a heightened horticultural experience in the gardens. She participated in the renovations of the Sigourney Cheek Literary Garden, Blevins Japanese Garden, The Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail, and the installation of the Brackens Foundation Children Garden.

Prior to joining Cheekwood in 2018, Mary spent the bulk of her career as Belmont University’s Manager of Landscaping and Grounds. She oversaw the maintenance and upkeep of immeasurable landscape growth and built an increased focus on sustainable practices including green roofs, computerized irrigation systems to maximize water management efficiency and composting, utilizing dehydrated food and green waste.

Mary graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a degree in Agriculture specializing in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design and is also a Master Gardener of Davidson County.

Garden design with multicolored flowers and greenery

Pink tulips planted outdoors next to a tree