Retail Revival: Making gardening contagious

There is no better example of gardening becoming infectious than Garden Walk Buffalo. In 1995, a group of neighbors decided to share their gardens over a weekend at the end of July. They had such a good time doing so that it became an annual event. Now, more than 300 gardens are open in 2024, and the event is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Although this self-guided tour through the private gardens of Buffalo, New York, started with just a few people, it has had an amazing impact on many of the city’s neighborhoods. Buffalo residents became inspired by their visits to other gardens, causing more people to spruce up their yards. They did so for their own enjoyment — or for the possibility of opening their property during the event.

When I visited Buffalo during the event’s 20th anniversary, I could clearly see how the care, extra attention and colorful plantings had spread from house to house and block to block. I resolved to start something like this on Cape Cod, and in 2015, the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival was born.

For me, the goal of open gardens was summed up when a 30-something woman walked down my driveway in the early years of the Hydrangea Fest. She stopped at my flower garden, which fills the yard in and around the front door to our house, her hands flying up to her chest. “Oh,” she said, “I didn’t know this was possible!”

I knew that this festival would be good for Cape businesses and nonprofits, since the gardens open here charge a small fee that goes directly to a local nonprofit. But as an employee at an IGC and a garden communicator, my primary goal is to make beautiful gardens contagious in my area. Opening private landscapes allows people to experience what’s possible.

Supporting local garden tours — be they a dedicated festival like what happens in Buffalo, New York, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, or in Memphis, Tennessee, or a local garden club’s fundraising event — is one way to help the love of gardens spread. An IGC might promote a local tour in its newsletter, have posters or tickets available at the store or offer an early spring discount to those whose properties will be open for touring later in the summer.

But showing people what can be done in yards and gardens doesn’t have to involve tours. Consider asking your customers for photos of what they’ve planted, especially on parts of their property that aren’t visible to passersby. These might be featured on your company’s blog or website in a “Kudos to our Customers!” section.

How is featuring garden photos different from what your clients can see in magazines or on social media? What your IGC posts is local. The goal is to have your customers respond to these pictures with, “If they can do this, so can I.” You are showing them what’s possible.

In addition to featuring area gardens in your digital communications, you might partner with your city/town, garden clubs or organizations such as the Rotary International to offer annual “Best in Beautification” awards. Offer to provide gift cards as prizes. Categories could include “Most Flower Power,” “Best Native Plantings” or an “Excellent Eco Landscape” designation. Develop a list of the types of plantings that your region will benefit from and reward homeowners who install those plants or landscapes.

We know that plants and gardens are life-affirming. Let’s make them contagious.

C.L. Fornari is a speaker, writer and radio/podcast host who has worked at Hyannis Country Garden, an IGC on Cape Cod, for nearly 30 years. She has her audiences convinced that C.L. stands for “Compost Lover.” Learn more at GardenLady.com.