Garden Walk

According to Esther Brill, longtime ABC resident and Garden Walk founder, visitors always comment on what a delightful experience Garden Walk is for them. “Our garden hosts are so gracious, so willing to interact with visitors, and so happy to provide tips and advice when asked. When visitors tour on Garden Walk we get so many comments about the warmth of our community, hidden gardens that inspire them, and our vibrant, walkable neighborhood.”

Brill says the origins of Garden Walk date to a conversation she and partner R.J. Ruble had years ago with ABC residents John Rudy and Becky Simmons, who told them about their annual visits to Buffalo’s Garden Walk. Brill and Ruble attended a Buffalo event and came home inspired to enhance their own backyard garden.

Later Brill was motivated to convene a small group of neighbors to brainstorm holding a garden event in our neighborhood. Our first Garden Walk was held in July 2015, sponsored by the neighborhood association, and featured 15 gardens, open to the public, with a Map Guide. “Remarkably, more than 200 people from all over Monroe County showed up for our interactive experience promoting City living and we were featured in local media.”

From 2015 until the pandemic in 2020, “we held our Garden Walk annually, adding over time Michael Hannen’s Rare & Different Perennials and the Greater Rochester Plein Air Painters. We featured new and additional garden hosts, and gardens that grew, changed or morphed in new ways over time.”

During the COVID pandemic, “we went ‘virtual’ and since returning to in-person events in 2022 have opted to host Garden Walk as an every-other-year summer event.” Our most recent event was held in July 2024.