Capen Garden Walk
Samuel P. Capen was the first full-time, salaried Chancellor at the University at Buffalo. The Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk began in 2002 with 24 gardens, in an effort to showcase the neighborhoods surrounding the University at Buffalo South campus which includes the University District of Buffalo, Eggertsville, Amherst, and Tonawanda.
2024 marks the 23nd year of the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk, a free self-guided tour of more than 70 private gardens and carefully nurtured public spaces. The Capen Garden Walk is designed to encourage neighborhood beautification and collaboration and to build strong communities.
Details for the 2024 self-guided Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk:
Dates: Saturday, July 13 and Sunday, July 14 2024
Time: 10am-4pm
Location: Various homes and public spaces in the neighborhoods of the University District of Buffalo, Eggertsville, Amherst and Tonawanda.
Capen by Night: July 13, 2024: 8pm-10pm
Seventh annual Capen Garden Walk by Night. Visit some of our gardens under the light of the moon. Enjoy the evening ambiance of nature under the stars.
Free event, rain or shine, in the neighborhoods surrounding the South campus of the University at Buffalo.
Sign up to show your garden in 2024 here.
Maps are available at the UB Anderson Gallery parking lot located at 1 Martha Jackson Place, Buffalo, NY 14214, until 4pm, the days of the walk.
Downloadable Maps for 2024 will appear here.
Download and Print or Read Online
2024 Plant and Seed Exchanges
Location: University Presbyterian Church located at 3330 Main Street, corner of Niagara Falls Boulevard, Buffalo, 14214
Saturday, May 18, 2024, 10AM – 2PM
Saturday, September 21, 2024, 10AM – 2PM
Plant and Seed Exchanges are an opportunity to share perennials and seeds. In addition to plants and seeds, which are provided by the ARTseeds program of the University Heights Arts Association, we will have pots and other garden art for sale.
Donations of used pots, garden ornaments, vases, and tools are gladly accepted for resale as well as any garden related paraphernalia.
Proceeds go to the Christine Brooks Memorial Garden Grant Fund.
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Beauty in Our Backyard Garden 2024 Art Competition
Enter the art competition, produced by the University Heights Arts Association, for an opportunity to have your work featured on the 2024 poster or included in the calendar.
Beauty in Our Backyard Garden Art Competition Entries:
View all 125 entries from 2018 here.
View the 100+ competition entries from 2017
2024 Capen Garden Walk Poster – Contact us if you would like to purchase a poster for $5.00. capengardenwalk@gmail.com
2024 Capen Garden Walk Calendars are for sale.
Great for gifts to family, friends, or even to yourself. The 2024 Capen Calendar, published by UHAA, containing dozens of beautiful original art works is now on sale for only $10.00. Contact us at capengardenwalk@gmail.com
Christine Brooks Garden Grant
The purpose of this monetary award is to encourage gardeners, both experienced and new, to beautify our University Heights neighborhood and participate in the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk. The award was established in 2016 to honor the spirit of dedicated gardener Christine H. Brooks (May 20, 1938-January 14, 2015), whose lovely garden on Larchmont Road enhanced our neighborhood for many years.
Download the 2024 application for Brooks Garden Grant here.
Read what our past recipients have to say:
Michael and Mary Pachla, 2023 recipient
We were very grateful and privileged to receive the 2023 Christine Brooks Memorial Grant. It enabled us to enhance the street-front corner of our property immensely by replacing the aged and spent shrubs with wonderful ornamental grasses and perennials. We received many compliments from neighbors and visitors. We also enjoyed the annual gathering where we met other participants.
The Faye Family, 2022 recipient As recipients of one of the 2022 Brooks Garden grants, we felt inspired to join a community of gardeners in beautifying our neighborhood. We love the additions we made to our front garden and we loved attending the annual gathering when neighbors come together to celebrate recipients and enjoy each other’s company.
Cottrell Smith, 2022 recipient I was so excited and honored to receive the Christie Brooks Garden Grant. The grant allowed me the opportunity to bless my neighbors and my neighborhood with some forever beautiful perennial flowers. These natural beauties enhanced my house beyond measure. We live in a corner house and people travel by all the time so why not start their day off with something beautiful? The Grant really helped me enhance our house.
Sharon Green, 2018 recipient
“I was thrilled to receive the Brooks Garden grant. It served as a catalyst to re-do my front-yard garden, a project I had long wanted to do. I hired a landscaper to remove old misshapen shrubs and build a low dividing wall between my garden and grass. I bought some perennials, and gradually I will add more. I now proudly display a garden marker created by local sculptor Larry Kinney, which I received with the grant. Thank you!”
Travis Nelson, 2017 recipient:
“I want to say I was very pleased to have received the Christine Brooks Memorial Garden Grant. I was grateful for the grant, which allowed me the opportunity to make some improvements that I have been wanting to do for years. I love the outdoors and love sharing the joy it gives me with others.”
Lauren Thomann, 2016 recipient:
“Winning the 2016 Christine Brooks Memorial Garden Grant changed how I approach my garden. What began as a quest to improve the look and curb appeal of my home evolved into a fun, rewarding, and relaxing hobby. I encourage all my fellow neighbors to give gardening a chance, and this grant is the perfect opportunity to get you started.”
Christine Brooks’ Garden Grant Recipients
2024 Nancy and Milt Lamb and Caitlynn Strong
2023 Patricia Harper and Mike and Mary Pachla
2022 Cattrell Smith, Corey Hagstrom, Jenica and Lars Faye, and Luanna McDowell
2021 Tara Taylor and Zebiallah Omari
2020 Angela Woodson-Brice and Kamalie Liyanage
2019 Melissa and Peter Hudecki
2018 Eddie and Charmion Flood, Sharon Green, and Deidre and Brian Adler.
2017 Cameron and Jacqueline Hall, Kanika Durland, and Travis Nelson.
2016 Lauren Thomann, Corey Bower and Shirley Ann Jordan.
If you would like to contribute to the Christine Brooks Memorial Fund, please make checks payable to “University Heights Collaborative,” write “Christine Brooks Memorial” in the memo, and send to Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk, 2 University Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14214. Cash contributions accepted at any Capen Garden Walk event. We also accept no longer needed pots,vases and garden ornaments which are sold at Capen Garden Walk Plant and Seed Exchanges.
Photos & Videos from Previous Years’ Samuel P. Capen Garden Walks
Gardens Buffalo Niagara
The Capen Garden Walk is a participant in Gardens Buffalo Niagara. Gardens Buffalo Niagara is a 6 weeks long event including Garden Walk Buffalo, other Buffalo Niagara weekend garden walks, open gardens, garden-related events, symposia and tours packaged and promoted to attract visitors from far and wide. See more here.
Thank you to our generous sponsors and advertisers!
O’Connell’s Clothing
Councilmember Rashid Wyatt
Yalley’s African Restaurant
Jesse Lunn Realtor
Pioneer Star Real Estate
Tops Supermarket
UB Anderson Gallery
University Presbyterian Church
Contact Us
2 Facebook pages: Capen Garden Walk and Brooks Garden Grant
email: capengardenwalk@gmail.com