The gardens at Dumbarton Oaks are closing in July for eight months of maintenance work. The stormwater management system dates back to the gardens’ creation in the 1920s and the time has come for an overhaul.

“This is such a large-scale undertaking that it requires us to completely close,” says events manager Susana Italiano. Some areas will have to be dug up, but gardeners will replant the trees and flowers. “By the time we re-open, I don’t think the public will notice” any change in the landscape, she adds.

Georgetown Metropolitan first reported the closure.

In my humble opinion, the gardens are one of the city’s most underrated outdoor attractions—more manageable to cover than the entire Arboretum and less crowded than the otherwise wonderful Botanical Gardens. And through March 15, there’s no admittance fee; during the regular season it is $10.

Meanwhile, the museum—which features Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and European artworks—is nearing the end of a year-long project to update the building. It is slated to open its doors again in the spring, likely in late April or early May, ahead of the closure of the gardens.

“We’ll trade one for the other,” Italiano says.

The gardens at Dumbarton Oaks (1703 32nd Street NW) will close on July 10, through March of 2018.