Gardener, photographer, graphic designer, and crafty gal Gayla Trail is the creator of the acclaimed gardening website www.YouGrowGirl.com. Gayla's love for gardening began with parsley seeds planted in a Styrofoam cup when she was five years old. Inspired by the potato plants her grandmother grew in a bucket on her senior center's fire escape, Gayla has always gardened in whatever space she had available. An urbanite living in Toronto, Canada, she now splits her gardening time between a rooftop deck, a community garden plot, and a formerly barren patch of public land on a busy urban corner.
Gayla's work has been featured in magazines, newspapers, on radio, and television programs across North America including: ReadyMade, Venus, BUST, The National Post, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Gardening Life, LA Times, Canadian House and Home, 2 Magazine, Gardening and Deck Design, Life Magazine, News World, Studio 2, and more.
Gayla is also a frequent speaker and spokesperson on the topics of urban gardening, ecology, and community. She gives hands-on demonstrations to audiences of all ages and has travelled across North America to speak at garden shows, environmental events, horticultural societies and gardening events. Selected past topics and appearances include:
- Canada Blooms: Urban gardening demo, Guerilla Gardening.
- The Stratford Garden Festival: What I Love About Gardening, Growing Edibles, Current Gardening Trends.
- Vegetable Gardening Symposium (Oregon): Gardening with Limited Resources and Challenging Spaces
- Portland, Oregon and Earth Day Toronto: Growing From Seed Workshop
- BlogHer Conference 2006 Is the Next Martha Stewart a Blogger?
- Leafscapes Urban Gardening Events, New York, and Chicago.
- Toronto Botanical Garden: Creating a Sanctuary in the City
- GrassRoots: Urban Gardening: No Backyard Required
Contact Gayla about interviews, writing, speaking at your event or other appearances.
