Cooper-Young in Bloom at the 5th Annual Garden Walk, May 16-17, 2020
For Immediate Release
Memphis, TN:If there is anything that signifies the beginning of Spring, it’s flowers. And not only flowers but gardens. While country gardens are de rigueur, the era of urban gardens has arrived and they are taking the spotlight. With the influx of urbanites comes new ideas and ways to live. These urban dwellers have found creative ways to do commutes, farms, and yes, gardens.
Promoting this nouveau wave of gardening is The Cooper-Young Garden Club, who will be hosting their 5th Annual Cooper-Young Garden Walk, the largest garden walk in the Mid-South, May 16-17, from 9 am to 5 pm.
The mission of the Garden Walk is to celebrate urban gardening and inspire Mid-South residents and visitors to elevate their corner of the world with beauty, and provide a sanctuary for people, plants, and pollinators. The theme of this year’s walk is “Beauty, Health, and Sustainability”.
Visitors can expect a unique garden walk not only because of Cooper-Young’s quirky, eclectic gardens but because of its unique location in the heart of Midtown Memphis, home to historic architecture, robust community pride, trendy shops, thriving restaurants, diversity, art, and culture just to name a few.
The 80+ diverse gardens include imaginative urban home gardens and business green spaces, an elementary school garden, and a local community garden which will delight all the senses during the Garden Walk’s 2 1/2-day span.
Enjoy engaging mini-talks in various locations on topics including growing mushrooms, micro greens, and vegetables, aquaponics, vertical gardening, composting, and more. Additionally, have the pleasure of viewing beehives, free range chickens, and composting in action.
Increase your nursery know-how at booths operated by Master Gardeners, the Herb Society, and many other garden educators and enthusiasts. After taking in the gardens, shop for garden-themed art and nourish yourself at Cooper-Young’s award-winning restaurants and breweries.
Walk, bike, Bird, or shuttle to the gardens along tree-lined streets, now a nationally registered arboretum. It’s easy to experience what is fast becoming the best and largest urban garden walk in the South.
Cooper-Young Garden Walk’s mission is to stage an ever-growing annual garden walk that inspires residents and visitors to beautify their outdoor spaces, adopt healthy sustainable garden practices, and make Memphis a premier garden tourist destination.
The self-guided tour begins with check-in at the Gazebo, located at Cooper and Young where visitors will receive a garden walk booklet, the map of the gardens, and a wristband to gain entrance into the gardens. Gardens may be visited in any order.
We encourage visitors to buy tickets early to be entered into a drawing for a “Staycation Memphis Package” valued at over $500.
Buy your tickets online at: ____________
Also available at these Cooper-Young businesses (by check only):
- Palladio Gardens-2231 Central
- Stone Soup Cafe–993 S. Cooper
- Cooper-Young Business Association–2120 Young Avenue
For more information about the garden walk, see: https://cooperyounggardenwalk.org,
- Facebook at CooperYoungGardenWalk
- Instagram at @cooperyounggardenwalkmemphis.
See you at the Garden Walk!
PRESS STORY IDEAS:
When it comes to the Cooper-Young Garden Walk, expect many story angles for articles, photo essays, blogs, or media interviews.
2-Day Garden Education Extravaganza
Gardening is a skill and art open to anyone willing to learn. The Cooper-Young Garden Walk promotes the joy of gardening. We celebrate the gardeners who spend time, money and effort enhancing our neighborhood with their beautiful gardens. We believe visitors will leave inspired to go home and grow their own personal, beautiful outdoor spaces. In this way, Memphis grows more picturesque, 1 garden and neighborhood at a time. Visitors can hear informative mini-talks on growing mushrooms, microgreens, and even edible flowers. Other topics include composting, school gardens, and fermentation. Watch demos on creating beautiful container plantings by John Jennings, from Palladio Gardens. See and ask questions about using a Tower Garden or an aquaponics system. Renting and can’t dig up the yard? Try a Grow bag or container growing. Wondering how to style up your porch or back yard? Bee Inspired Staging, LLC will show you how. Looking to add art to your garden? Stop by our art marketplace in the Bluff City Coffee parking lot. Have garden or tree questions? Educational booths include Memphis Area Master Gardeners, Memphis Herb Society, Urban Forestry, and Storm Water.
Come visit our garden walk and see what celebrating gardening can do to a neighborhood and the community at large!
Creating Backyard Entertaining Spaces
If your home is your castle, then your outdoor space is your personal entertainment center. Our garden walk helps you realize the potential to enlarge your living space without buying a larger home. Come see 4 season porches, soothing water features, tablescape decor, inventive art pieces, children’s gardens, multipurpose seating, growing edibles, and, a special treat: your own outdoor movie screen. Our outdoor pergolas, porches, and pagoda will remind you that you aren’t limited by the size of your space, only the size of your imagination.
Big Garden Living in Tiny City Plots
Want to garden, but wondering where to start? Stymied by too much sun, shade, squirrels, or rambunctious pets? Are you a renter or a homeowner looking for low maintenance gardens? Think your space is too small for a stylish garden. Think again. The Cooper-Young Garden Walk will show you clever, imaginative garden ideas for every budget and garden stage of life. From elegant to quirky gardens, lush lawns to no lawns, visitors will leave inspired to go home and rethink their own personal garden plots. See how to raise bees and chickens in the city, grow edibles in the ground, in raised beds and containers. Or go soil-less and check out our aquaponic and Tower Garden systems.
Cooper-Young Style Gardening
What makes our walk so different is we celebrate all gardeners and gardens, from the just starting out to well-established gardeners. None of the gardens are judged because ALL GARDENS add beauty to our neighborhood and city. Our garden styles include funky, traditional, container, vegetable, and yard-art gardens. See outdoor showers, lawnless lawns, sculpture and artist studios. We have urban farms, beekeeping, chickens, ponds, patios, and wonderful porches. It’s celebrating being one with nature in your own individual way and learning to appreciate the beauty of each person’s idea of gardening.
“C Y We Beautify” Grant Program
The goal of our annual garden walk is to inspire homeowners in Cooper-Young and beyond to beautify their outdoor spaces. This year we set aside $2,000 from the garden walk proceeds to provide small-dollar grants for Cooper-Young Beautification projects. Award amounts are based on the overall project cost and range from $50-$500. Eligible projects must include matching funds or volunteer sweat equity. Qualifying projects must also be in the Cooper-Young neighborhood and be visible from the street. We encourage all residents and civic groups within our neighborhood to submit creative ideas to beautify our neighborhood with plantings, art, and creative solutions to neighborhood concerns. We know that with some “SEED MONEY, creative ideas grow and flourish, and we all benefit.