Changing city inspires this year’s theme

This weekend the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show celebrates its 30th anniversary with the theme Changing Times, Changing Gardens, which will focus on the evolving realities of modern cityscapes, suburban and rural gardens, community initiatives, container and waterwise gardens, organic foods and sustainability.

Todd Breyer, landscape architect and president of the foundation, has been involved with the show since its second year and thinks the theme is pretty fitting, for Nashville and its gardens.

“We really told our gardeners to think in terms of smaller space gardens,” Breyer says. And people have gotten a little more away from color, although color is important, but they’re doing more habitats with native grasses. Vertical gardens and edible gardens are big too.”

As Tennessee’s largest annual gardening event, nearly 18,000 people came through the show last year, which is again held at The Fairgrounds Nashville, 500 Wedgewood Avenue.

“As Nashville has gone from a small city to the ‘It City’, the way folks in and around Nashville garden and think about planting flowers and trees has also changed,” said Randall Lantz, co-manager of the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show, in a release. “People want to learn to grow organic vegetables on their patio or balcony. People are thinking about where their food comes from and ways to better conserve our resources. This year’s Nashville Lawn and Garden Show will provide inspiration and learning opportunities that focus on these ideas.”

Stroll through the show to get inspiration for patios, pergolas, water features, landscapes and flowers, while workshops focused on gardening in smaller spaces and lectures on teaching attendees to be successful growing plants are free with paid admission. There are more than 250 vendor booths filled with garden décor, plants, flowers, lawn equipment and farmhouse crafts, while food trucks will be on-site as well.

The Nashville Lawn and Garden Show is produced by the Nashville Lawn and Garden Foundation, a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization benefiting community horticultural programs in Middle Tennessee. This year the main beneficiary is Libby’s Legacy of the Pink Ribbon Garden Project, a national program that’s for breast cancer survivors to promote good health through growing plants.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $11 for seniors 65 and older and active duty military, $2 for children and available here.

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