So you’re thinking about signing up, but you have some questions? Garden Walk gardens are a key part of the largest garden tour in the U.S. and one of Buffalo Niagara's most anticipated summer happenings, drawing tens of thousands of tourists from near and far. Thank you for sharing your creativity!

Who can sign up to be a Garden Walk gardener?

There are no fancy garden criteria—no site visits, no judging, no entry fees, nothin'—all you have to do is be proud of your little spot of earth. You do need to be in the footprint of the Walk—from Canalside to the Scajaquada, and from the Niagara River to Main Street.

To be a Garden Walk Buffalo garden, your garden doesn’t need to be perfect. It doesn’t need to be giant.

It doesn’t need to be professionally landscaped. Gardens range from large properties to a few square feet—but that is OK—it is the diversity that makes this event a success.

To register your garden, all we ask is that you are excited to share it with visitors. You can choose to share your front, side, or back yard—or all three—you decide!

When should I sign up?

Annual sign-up starts mid-February with a deadline of May 15 each year to ensure your garden makes it to the official GWB map. You’ll be asked to provide a brief description of your garden for the map.

REGISTER YOUR GARDEN

How should I prepare for visitors?

There’s no such thing as a perfect garden, so don’t panic. If there is a part of your garden you don't want visitors to enter, rope it off or put up a note. Visitors will be excited to chat. Make sure to take time for yourself! You can't talk to everyone who enters. Stay hydrated and wear sunscreen. If you can’t host the entire weekend, remove your sign so visitors know not to enter.

What if something happens to a visitor during the Walk?

Garden Walk Buffalo has plenty of insurance to cover incidents during the event. Your homeowner’s insurance also covers visitors on your property. During the 24 years of the Walk, there have been no incidents! Visitors are respectful, courteous, and extremely interested in what you’ve created.

Can I use Garden Walk to promote my blankety-blank or sell my such-and-such?

Garden Walk is a free event, designed to connect and inspire garden visitors. While it’s tempting to use this as an opportunity to host a yard sale, art sale, or food stand, it’s important to remember that the weekend is about our neighbors and our gardens. Please don’t use Garden Walk as a place to promote or sell. You may choose to offer water or refreshments to guest at no charge, if you like. Offering complimentary cuttings, seeds, or other sharing is also a fun idea.

Where do I get my sign?

We’re excited to invite you to the annual Rally Party (held the last Saturday of each June), open to all Garden Walk gardeners. Here, you’ll have the chance to meet other gardeners, enjoy refreshments, grab your yard sign, maps and posters—and buy Garden Walk merchandise before the crowds even see it. It’s always a fun time, and it’s a place to ask any last minute questions you have. If we have your email, you’ll get an invitation. Make sure we have your email address, otherwise you won’t get information and updates.

And sometime after the Walk, in September (sometimes later!), the Garden Walk Buffalo committee volunteers host a Thank You party for you—a time to share stories and experiences with your new fellow Garden Walk gardening friends over drinks and refreshments!

How can I ask more questions?

If you have more questions, please  email GardenWalkBuffalo@GardensBuffaloNiagara.com, or call (716) 247-5004.

Download a PDF of the 2017 map here.
This is an abridged map with only gardens plotted on the map. It does not include garden descriptions or gardener names. Acrobat Reader required.

If you would like to receive a 2018 garden Walk Buffalo map in the mail in advance of next year's walk, please make a donation of $15 or more and we'll gladly add you to our mailing list! Visit here to make a donation.

Visit and "Like" our Facebook page to see featured gardens and get updates year round.

On the days and hours of Garden Walk, you can get maps (and visit a restroom!) at headquarters. Merchandise such as books, magazines, t-shirts, caps, totes and more will be available for purchase.

The two headquarters are:

• Richmond-Summer Senior Center, corner of Richmond Avenue and Summer Street
• Buffalo Seminary School, 205 Bidwell Parkway near Soldiers Circle and Chapin Parkway
• Evergreen Health, 206 S. Elmwood Avenue, 14201

We will have three “satellite” sites where you can pick up maps only:

• First Presbyterian Church, 1 Symphony Circle
• West Side Community Services, 161 Vermont Street

NOTE: The complete Garden Walk map will only be available for free at our headquarters and satellite locations during the days and hours of the Walk. In advance of the Walk, they will be available for free at select sponsor locations.

Garden Walk Buffalo is a self-guided tour of more than 400 gardens. There are no officially designated parking areas and no designated start or end point. There is generally ample parking along the streets in the area of the Walk.

Garden Walk is a free, self-guided tour of more than 400 gardens. There are no tickets required and no cost for touring the gardens. Even the Garden Walk Shuttle is free. Buses will circulate between the headquarters this year, stopping at select shuttle stops in many of the Walk neighborhoods. Garden Walk Buffalo is kept free through generous contributions of participants and visitors like you, as well as through the generosity of its sponsors.

The Walk takes place in several communities within the city's limits:

• Elmwood Village
• Symphony Circle & Kleinhans
• The Cottage District
• Historic West Village
• Allentown
• Fargo Estate Nieghborhood
• Columbus Park/Prospect Hill

The Garden Walk map provides you with a comprehensive layout of the area with gardens plotted, and with descriptions. They will be available at select sponsor locations in early July. They will also be available at two headquarters and two satellite locations, during the days and hours of the Walk.

Look for the yellow Garden Walk sign and go on in!

Here are just some of the places and things you're likely to see during the Walk:

• Beautiful gardens: flower, rose, vegetable, herb and organic gardens; Japanese, English and water gardens; butterfly, pocket, espaliers, container and rock gardens; sidewalk and community gardens.
• Creative garden structures: multiple-level decks, pergolas, outdoor kitchens, fountains, wall murals, sculpture, koi ponds, waterfalls, potting sheds, carriage houses, playgrounds, playhouses, a tree house, and a putting green.
• Art: award-winning urban sculpture, public art, re-purposed and found art, wall murals, and more – .
• Architecture and landscape: Victorian homes, Civil War-era cottages, secret houses hidden from view and turn-of-the-century mansions, homes by Frank Lloyd Wright and McKim, Mead & White, H.H. Richardson's Richardson Olmsted Campus, and Eliel and Eero Saarinen's Kleinhans Music Hall, parkways and traffic circles laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Art Deco treasure that is Buffalo City Hall.
• History: The Buffalo History Museum, The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site; the spot where President McKinley ultimately died; and the beautiful Forest Lawn Cemetery.
• Shopping and dining: unique shopping and dining galore throughout the Elmwood Village and Allentown areas.

Garden Walk Buffalo is always the last full weekend in July. In 2018, it will be Saturday and Sunday, July 28 & 29. Plan ahead! Viewing hours are 10 a.m to 4 p.m. each day. But, if you see a yellow sign posted in the front yard of a garden on the tour before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m., feel free to visit. But only if the Garden Walk sign is displayed please!

There is no rain date. Garden Walk is the last full weekend of July every year - rain or shine (but quite honestly, it’s rarely a problem!). Watch the weather forecasts and bring an umbrella if needed!

At any headquarters you can use restrooms or find water available to purchase. There are also dozens of restaurants, stores and shops throughout the Elmwood Village that share facilities for customers. There are plenty of stores along Elmwood Avenue and Allen Street that sell water and other beverages.

Anything you could want to know about visiting from Canada–directions, transportation, cross-border travel and important phone numbers – you can find here.

That's entirely up to you. Please ask a gardener if bringing a dog onto their property is okay. Be aware that many yards and gardens have narrow paths or walkways that make pushing a stroller difficult. Some Garden Walk signs, posted in the front yards, may have "no dogs," or "no strollers" stickers. Please observe the gardener's requests, if any.

For wheelchair/stroller accessibility, look in the Garden Walk map for gardens with a wheelchair symbol.

There are accommodations from hotels, to Bed & Breakfasts, to Airbnbs in the immediate downtown area. For area hotels, please visit here.

If you can't make Garden Walk Buffalo, there are plenty of other great garden tours in the area – almost every weekend of the summer. To see a schedule of summer garden tours in Buffalo Niagara, visit here.