by Connie Oswald Stofko
How many times have you looked at a landscape on Garden Walk Buffalo and thought, “Oh, my yard doesn’t look anything like this!”
Well, their yards didn’t start out like that, either.
See photos—before and after—of some of the most visited landscapes on Garden Walk Buffalo. You’ll find the photos and more in Garden Walk at 30, a commemorative magazine to celebrate the event’s three decades of changing the world through gardening.
You can buy Garden Walk at 30 this weekend at The Garden Art Sale at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave., Buffalo. The art sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 29 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 30.
Look for the Gardens Buffalo Niagara booth near the raffle table. The price is $15.
Garden Walk Buffalo has influenced Buffalo, the region and beyond.
Though Garden Walk Buffalo started in 1995 with only a handful of gardeners, it is now the largest garden tour in North America, drawing visitors from across the United States and beyond. It inspired others to create garden walks in their own areas. It has impacted regional tourism and our economy.
Others saw what was going on and decided to plant a garden. A neighbor followed suit. Rundown neighborhoods started to look better, people got together and the neighborhoods became safer. Not just in Buffalo—I’ve heard this from people on other garden walks as well.
Trends have been spread by Garden Walk Buffalo: quirky art in the garden, grassless front yards, and the use of plants in the hellstrip, that space between the sidewalk and yard.
I was honored to be invited to write an article for Garden Walk at 30, and I learned so much from the other articles and gorgeous photos.
Thanks, Jay! Your article in the magazine, “Garden Walk Buffalo Through the Eyes of a Traveler,” was so much fun! Thank you for sharing that with all of us.
Love your hellstrip garden article, so many great information.