A growing garden club in Huntington is beautifying not only the Southside, but also public spaces throughout the city.
By Amanda Larch
HQ 133 | Spring 2026
For the past six years, a small group of volunteers has been working quietly behind the scenes to make Huntington a more beautiful place. With little fanfare but a great deal of dedication, the Southside Garden Club of Huntington has planted, pruned and refreshed public spaces — not only on the Southside, but also throughout the city.
Established in 2019, the club continues to bloom, steadily growing its membership and expanding its impact. Affiliated with the National Garden Clubs nonprofit, the organization was federated in 2021, according to club president Jennifer Hinkle.
“We have worked at creating a strong foundation for our club,” Hinkle said. “We created a board of directors, enhanced our bylaws, put together committees so we could take on community projects and really started to grow our membership.”
That foundation has allowed the Southside Garden Club to partner with the Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District to help maintain the Memorial Arch and Gold Star Families Memorial, participate in Huntington in Bloom by planting and trimming at Harris Riverfront Park and redesign landscaping at the newly renovated Huntington EMS Station No. 3 and the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Control Shelter.
The club’s largest annual fundraiser and signature event is its Southside Garden Tour. The second annual tour is scheduled for June 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last year’s tour sold more than 250 tickets, Hinkle said.
“There hadn’t been a garden tour in Huntington for many years,” she said. “It was a huge success. To see your neighbors walking through the neighborhood on a Saturday morning, going from house to house and following their maps, was really special.”
Tickets go on sale in May and will cost $20 in advance or $25 the day of the tour. This year’s tour is expected to feature 10 locations, though the specific sites are being kept under wraps. Stops will include a mix of private home gardens and garden-related businesses, all listed on the ticket and accompanied by a map.
“As it gets closer, we’ll post information on how to get tickets,” Hinkle said. “Until you buy one, you won’t know which gardens are available to view. Many are within walking distance of each other; some require driving.”
Last November, the club launched its “60 Trees in 60 Days” campaign, an effort to restore tree-lined streets across the Southside. Mature, 12-foot trees sourced from a local nursery were planted by a professional landscaping company and are maintained year-round.
“I’m very proud of our club and our community for getting behind this effort,” Hinkle said. “So many of the trees in the Southside are old, diseased or dying. We take pride in these beautiful tree-lined streets, and we plan to do the campaign again this year. People driving through the Southside can really see the difference.”
The club meets on the third Tuesday of each month from 6 to 8:30 p.m., often featuring guest speakers. Meetings are typically held at the Room with a View at the Ritter Park Rose Garden, though the group has also gathered at locations such as the Huntington Museum of Art’s C. Fred Edwards Conservatory.
“Our fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, so our last big hurrah is the garden tour,” Hinkle said. “In August, we’ll start lining up speakers for the entire next year.”
Recent meetings have included a garden-to-plate potluck, presentations on tree care and pruning, floral arranging, preparing gardens for spring growth, backyard birding, cultivating blueberries and a succulent workshop. Hinkle said anyone interested in speaking on a gardening-related topic is encouraged to reach out.
Membership is open to everyone, and participants do not need to live on the Southside — or even have a garden of their own — to join. Interested individuals can connect through the club’s Facebook page or by emailing [email protected].
“We have all different types of gardeners,” Hinkle said. “Some are master gardeners, and we learn so much from them. But the foundation of what we do is helping people enhance their own spaces — whether that’s vegetable gardening, container gardening or something else entirely.”
For Hinkle, the club’s greatest strength is the enthusiasm and fellowship of its members.
“Many homes on the Southside sit on smaller lots,” she said. “Sharing ideas about how to make the most of those spaces makes a real difference. We all share that same passion. It’s a wonderful place to come together, encourage one another and support the beautification of our community.”
For more information visit our facebook page Southside Garden Club of Huntington or email [email protected]
