June marks the beginning of lush summer. Coneflowers, lilies and hydrangeas are at their most gorgeous, and the air is filled with the sweet scent of honeysuckle. Embrace nature's wonders with the Greater Memphis Garden Walk, where the city's gardens are open for tours every Thursday through Sunday in June.
With more than 30 communities participating in this year's event (which kicks off with the Cooper-Young Garden Walk in mid-May), there's plenty to enjoy.
Created by Experience Memphis Gardens (EMG), the gardens encourage visitors to explore neighborhoods they've never been to before: stroll through the Hein Park and Volunteer Evergreen neighborhoods in Midtown, head east to Central Gardens and East Memphis, north to Raleigh's Scenic Hills, and south to Fox Meadows and Hickory Hill. EMG's vision extends beyond Memphis to include gardens in Lakeland, Arlington, Piperton and Somerville. For $26, you'll get a lanyard to access all the locations.
“For me, it's about saying, 'There are many different ways to garden. What's your favorite way?'” says Kim Halyak, founder of Experience Memphis Gardens. “Look at these gardens and see if there's anything you like.”
Halyak's gardening is a labor of love. Though she claims to be retired, she still volunteers countless hours writing grant applications, managing EMG's activities, and updating the website. Cultivating community is her true passion, and it's something she passionately believes in and works to promote.
plant seeds
“She has a great vision,” community activist Mary Wilder said. “Kim sees gardening as a positive thing, an asset to our city.”
A longtime volunteer with the Volintine Evergreen Community Association (VECA), Wilder maintains Idlewild Gardens, a raised-bed community garden just west of McLean on the V&E Green Line, where volunteers meet on Saturdays to weed, mulch and socialize. Residents first got involved with EMG last year for its first citywide garden walk, after Wilder posted about the event in her newsletter. Eight gardeners showed up, thanks to Wilder's email newsletter. This year, the tour will include 10 gardens, including the V&E Community Garden and traffic islands in Hallwood and Oakmont, managed by neighbor Bill Schultz.
“If you can get people interested in their garden or the space outside their home, that's the key.” — Kim Halyak.
The Memphis Gardens Experience grew out of the Cooper-Young Garden Walk, launched by Halyak and Sharon Holloway Johnson in 2016. The first year featured just 23 gardens. Some were traditional, others featured chicken coops, rainwater tanks and funky art. All shared the same passion for creating inviting outdoor spaces. This year, 70 gardens were included on the tour.
After the success of the Cooper-Young Walk, Halyak has decided to expand EMG to the whole city in 2023. She wants to make Memphis a national garden tourism destination. In her view, gardening is more than growing plants; it's about cultivating community and green space. She wants to demonstrate that making improvements at an affordable cost can encourage other residents to get involved and improve the overall look and pride of the neighborhood.
Promoting local improvement
The nonprofit also helps gardening groups reach their goals. Funds raised by EMG from ticket sales are reinvested in neighborhood improvement projects. Participants can apply for beautification grants of up to $1,000, which applicants must match in cash or labor. Groups receive one-third of the funding up front and the remaining two-thirds after demonstrating success.
Last year, a beautification grant helped improve the south entrance to the Cooper-Young neighborhood. Every week, Johnson and her team pick up tons of trash that litter the south eight blocks of Southern Avenue from East Parkway to Cooper. The grant allowed them to paint a mural, install planters filled with sun-tolerant native shrubs, and create decorative trash cans that brighten up the street.
The CY Garden Club has encouraged neighborhood involvement by doing away with the traditional “Garden of the Month” award. Johnson says she and Halyak thought the award was too restrictive. “Getting a 'Garden of the Month' award was a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Johnson says. Instead, the two came up with signs that read, “Beauty Grows Here.” They would discreetly place the signs in the yards of homes they thought would make an extra effort, with a note that read, “Thank you for helping beautify our neighborhood.” But when they returned to retrieve the signs, recipients were often reluctant to let them go. So the signs stayed, and now grow all over Cooper-Young, a testament to the neighborhood pride that had taken root.
“If we can get people interested in their own yards and the spaces outside their homes, that's key,” Halyak says.
This year, the Fox Meadow neighborhood was able to purchase cedar planters to hide some eyesores, thanks to an EMG grant. “It was a way to show that a unified look can change the feel of a neighborhood,” Halyak says. “Pallets were placed in front of tree stumps and the like to provide a budget-friendly DIY solution.” Teens from Girl Scout Troop 13 then painted the planters in coordinating colors.
Other projects funded by EMG include the Little Free Library at Idlewild Elementary School and signage for Black Seeds Urban Farms.
Driving change
In addition to appreciating private gardens, there are some cool public spaces that are the result of citizen-led initiatives, including Audubon and Geisman parks, both recently redeveloped by the city, Berclair Conservatory, and Black Seed Urban Farm.
Suzanne Schon, along with Friends of Audubon Park, is driving the renovation of this popular park and organizing family activities during the tour. In Berclair, Chris Collier and John Long have been hard at work improving Geisman Park, which now features walking trails, native plants, and a new community center. Berclair tours are also accompanied by gardener Marius Blake, who uses a greenhouse and vegetable patch to teach others how to garden. Black Seeds Urban Farm, in the Greenlawn neighborhood of downtown, reflects the vision of owners Bobby and DeLavia Rich, who grow organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The couple also provide green space that is open to the public.
Gardeners know that patience is a virtue when planting something new. “Lie, creep, leap” is the adage for judging how long it will take for a new plant to thrive. Perhaps Memphis' gardening adventures will follow this path, eventually catapulting them onto the national stage and showcasing just how rich and fruitful our city's neighborhoods can be.
Greater Memphis Garden Walk
June 1st to 30th
26 days / 270 gardens / 30 areas
$26 gives you access to the entire gardens
The gardens are open Thursday through Sunday.
To order tickets or view the event schedule, visit experiencememphisgardens.org.
