Actually, after the 1.34 patch you can lockpick the Nericon Garden gate, though that may lead to a broken quest or missed experience points if you do so before getting the key.
Not knowing what the area was (thought it was the graveyard) I lockpicked (lvl 5) my way in there and it didn't break the treasure cove nor the statue quest. Even later, when I asked Blake for the key (just to try him on) and told him about the Seekers for Truth he told me to bug out. If there are any other quests in the garden, then I didn't find out about them.
-Peter
