The Waterway Koi Garden
The Woodlands Texas

Millennium Mew Park Inaugural

The Woodlands Koi Garden, or Koi Pond, opened November 13, 2009 adding to the growing list of attractions the community has to offer. This Asian-inspired garden on the Waterway is just across from the Waterway Marriott Hotel and in front of The Waterway Lofts. The garden area, totaling approximately ½ acre in size features a 60,000 gallon koi pond as well as a unique wall and screen design that leads through tropical gardens built on two “tear-drop” shaped islands.

The Waterway Koi Garden The Woodlands Texas

The Koi Pond originally featured thirty (30) varieties of Japanese Koi, these “living works of art” were hand selected and imported from Japan to include a variety of styles which all relate back to the Japanese culture. Each Koi has a distinctive pattern from a range of gorgeous, colorful designs. Major colors are white, black, red, orange, yellow, blue, and cream, with almost limitless the permutation of pattern and colors. Koi typically have the brightest colors in the Autumn.

What kinds of Koi are at Millennium Mew Park?

An array of distinctive materials and exotic plantings enhance the Koi Garden, along with the 2,400 square-foot, 60,000-gallon koi pond that is separated from The Waterway by dams. The Waterway Koi Pond is one of the largest of its kind outside of public arboreta or other water-gardens. The koi pond was designed in collaboration with Laguna Koi Ponds of Laguna Beach, California, using bio-filtration methods for maintaining fish health and water clarity. Designed by SLA Studio Land and constructed by Millis Construction, the Koi Garden is secluded from the pedestrian walkway by walls, fences and towering timber Bamboo native to Asia.

Access to the Koi Pond

The entry to the Koi Pond at Millennium Mew Park is marked by a two-sided galvanized steel arbor. The arbor features two ancient proverbs – “The Journey is the Reward” on the north side, and “Enough Pails of Water…A River” on the south side. Leading away from The Waterway, the path along the south-side of The Waterway offers pedestrian access into park and the Koi Pond. Limited street-side parking is available along Waterway Court and Timberloch Place in addition to the (occasionally paid) parking lot on Waterway Avenue.

A Magical Place

Since 2010, “Waterway Square, Millennium Mew Park, aka Waterway Koi Garden has literally been exploding with the Waterwall fountains, colorful fish swimming in the Koi Pond, and flowers blooming in the Garden. It is a magical place to be, and a unique testament to The Woodlands’ founding principle of designing with nature.

The Cycle of Life

According to David Smith, principal of SLA Studio Land, there are “common elements in the Garden’s design that represent several Asian cultures. Those elements include water, which is typically ‘Yin,’ or female, rock which is typically ‘Yang,’ or male, and plant materials expressive of the seasonal changes and the cycle of life.”

Koi Garden Design

Common to many gardens is the inclusion of islands and bridges designed to emphasize the act of “crossing over between states of consciousness or ‘worlds’.” The public amenity features three pedestrian bridges connecting the islands to the mainland, along the southern edge of The Waterway. Two additional bridges within the garden provide scenic connectors between the land and water elements.