

by Connie Oswald Stofko
Did you know that other cities in America have only one garden walk? And you have to buy an expensive ticket to see the gardens? And you get to see only about 15 gardens?
What we have in Western New York is amazing! We have easily 600 gardens that you can see on more than a dozen garden walks in the City of Buffalo and other towns. And we’ve just added yet another garden walk!
The East Side Garden Walk in Buffalo will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 21. It’s free, no tickets needed and, in its debut year, it already has more than 40 gardens you can visit!
Want to see a walk-through bean teepee? Check out Cheryl Harris’s garden at 108 Landon.
See gardens with personality, such as Dawn Berry-Walker’s garden at 136 Mercer that reflects African-American culture, particularly jazz.
If you have a space where grass refuses to grow, visit Deb Elek at 59 E. Depew and find out how she turned her problem area into low maintenance, pollinator-friendly, drought-tolerant garden.
There are established gardens, redesigned gardens and new gardens. Sun gardens and shade gardens. Flower gardens and vegetable gardens. Water features and garden art.
You can download a printer-friendly map here that contains descriptions of the gardens.
You can also pick up a map at some branches of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library:
- Central, 1 Lafayette Square – 858-8900
- Crane, 633 Elmwood Ave., 883-6651
- Dudley, 2010 South Park Ave., 823-1854
- East Clinton,1929 Clinton, 823-5626
- East Delavan, 1187 E Delavan, 896-4433
- Frank E. Merriweather, Jr., 1324 Jefferson Ave., 883-4418
- Niagara, 280 Porter Ave., 882-1537
- North Park, 975 Hertel Ave., 875-3748
- Riverside, 820 Tonawanda St., 875-0562
Garden walks happening this weekend are:

- Ken-Ton Garden Tour Night Lights – Friday, July 20, 2018 – 8:30 pm – 11:00 pm
- Lancaster Garden Walk night showing – Friday, July 20, 2018 – 8:45 pm – 11:00 pm
- East Side Garden Walk – Saturday, July 21, 2018 – 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
- Ken-Ton Garden Tour – Saturday, July 21, 2018 – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
- Lancaster Garden Walk – Saturday, July 21, 2018 – 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
- Village of Williamsville Garden Walk – Saturday, Jul 21, 2018 – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
- West Seneca Garden and Home Tour – Saturday, July 21, 2018 – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
- Ken-Ton Garden Tour Night Lights – Saturday, July 21, 2018 – 8:30 pm – 11:00 pm
- Ken-Ton Garden Tour – Sunday, July 22, 2018 – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
- Lancaster Garden Walk – Sunday, July 22, 2018 – 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
- West Seneca Garden and Home Tour – Sunday, July 22, 2018 – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
See more great gardening events, including sales, on our Events page.