![[FINAL] Garden After Dark 2026 • Branding](https://www.rutgersln.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/FINAL-Garden-After-Dark-2026-•-Branding.jpg)
Garden After Dark: A 40th Anniversary Celebration
Celebrate 40 years of Rutgers Landscape & Nursery with us at Garden After Dark—a free evening of glowing gardens, landscape inspiration, food, music and ideas for making your own outdoor spaces even more beautiful.
Experience the nursery after sunset, see professional landscape lighting in action, discover plants that shine after dark and connect with the Rutgers team about what could be next for your landscape.
Thursday, September 24 • 6PM – 9PM • 1051 U.S. Highway 202, Ringoes, NJ
Registration is required to help us plan for the evening. Patio Design Bar mini consultations will be available onsite on a first-come, first-served basis; no advance appointments are required.
Come celebrate 40 years with us
For 40 years, Rutgers Landscape & Nursery has been helping our neighbors create landscapes they love to come home to. This September, we’re celebrating that milestone the best way we know how: surrounded by plants, beautiful spaces and the people who have made the past four decades possible.
Garden After Dark invites you to experience Rutgers at its most magical. Wander through gardens illuminated for the evening, enjoy food, drinks and live music, and discover how thoughtful planting, design and landscape lighting can completely change the way an outdoor space feels after sunset.
Along the way, you’ll have opportunities to talk with our team, gather ideas for your own property and imagine what your landscape could become—whether you’re thinking about a project this fall, planning ahead for spring or simply looking for inspiration.
Come celebrate where we’ve been—and get inspired by what could be next.
Three ways to experience your landscape after dark
Bring your patio photos to the Patio Design Bar
Stop by the Patio Design Bar for a focused 10-minute mini consultation with a Rutgers designer. Bring photos of one patio, deck, porch or outdoor living area, and together you’ll identify three practical opportunities for your space:
- One layout or furniture recommendation
- One lighting recommendation
- One planting, fragrance, privacy or atmosphere recommendation
You’ll leave with a simple Patio Prescription capturing the designer’s recommendations and a clearer next step for making your space work better after dark.
Mini consultations will be available onsite on a first-come, first-served basis. No advance reservations are required.
What to have ready on your phone:
- Three to five photos from different angles
- Rough dimensions of the space
- Your biggest problem or question
- How you want to use the area—dining, entertaining, relaxing, gathering around a fire feature or something else
- An approximate investment range
Mini consultations are intended to provide focused ideas and direction. They do not include site measurements, construction plans, formal designs, estimates or complete plant lists.
Follow your nose to the Night Fragrance Bar
Discover fragrant plants that make an outdoor space feel especially alive in the evening. Explore a curated collection of in-season shrubs, perennials and container plants selected for local gardens, and learn:
- What each plant smells like
- When its fragrance is strongest
- Where to plant it
- How much light it needs
You’ll also see how fragrant plants can work together in a simple patio planting recipe—turning individual favorites into an atmosphere you can recreate at home.
See the difference professional landscape lighting makes
As daylight fades, watch an ordinary garden scene transform through three approaches to professional landscape lighting. See how thoughtful lighting can guide the eye, reveal texture, improve the feeling of a path or gathering area, and highlight the trees and plantings you already love—without overwhelming the view.
Short demonstrations will take place throughout the evening.
Come to celebrate. Leave seeing your own space differently.
Garden After Dark is for you if:
- Your patio or landscape feels unfinished or underused
- You want to entertain and spend more time outdoors
- You’re curious about landscape lighting but don’t know where to begin
- You want plants that add fragrance, texture and interest after sunset
- You’re considering a landscape project this fall
- You want to start planning ahead for a spring project
- You simply want to celebrate 40 years of Rutgers with a beautiful evening at the nursery
Rutgers Landscape & Nursery is located in Ringoes, NJ—an easy garden-night destination for guests from Flemington, throughout Hunterdon County and nearby New Hope, Pennsylvania.
Thinking about what’s next for your landscape?
Fall is one of the best times to start planning what comes next outdoors. Whether you’re hoping to make improvements this season or want to get ahead of next spring’s projects, Garden After Dark is an opportunity to meet the Rutgers team, explore possibilities, and start turning ideas into a plan.
Ask our team about landscape design, planting, outdoor living and ways to make larger landscape projects work within your plans and budget.
Plan your visit
DATE
Thursday, September 24, 2026
TIME
6PM – 9PM
LOCATION
Rutgers Landscape & Nursery
1051 U.S. Highway 202
Ringoes, NJ 08551
ADMISSION
Free
Garden After Dark is our way of celebrating 40 years with the community that helped make them possible.
REGISTRATION
Registration is required to help us plan for the evening. Patio Design Bar mini consultations will be available onsite on a first-come, first-served basis; no advance appointments are required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Garden After Dark is free to attend, but registration is required to help us plan for the evening. Patio Design Bar mini consultations will be available onsite on a first-come, first-served basis—no advance appointment is needed.
Nothing! Garden After Dark is a free event celebrating Rutgers Landscape & Nursery’s 40th anniversary. Advance registration is required.
Bring three to five photos of one patio or outdoor area, rough dimensions, your biggest question, how you want to use the space and an approximate investment range.
No. The Patio Design Bar is a focused 10-minute conversation designed to give you several practical ideas and a recommended next step. It does not include measurements, construction plans, a formal design, an estimate or a complete plant list.
Not at all. Come to celebrate, find one small idea, gather inspiration for a future project or simply enjoy an evening at the nursery. If a landscape project is on your mind, our team will be here to help you explore what’s possible.
The show will go on! If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll move activities into the greenhouse. Weather is generally pleasant this time of year, so fingers crossed for a beautiful evening.
Of course! Garden After Dark is a family-friendly event, and children are welcome to attend.
Celebrate 40 Years of Rutgers After Dark
Join us Thursday, September 24, as we celebrate four decades of growing, designing and creating beautiful outdoor spaces. Come for an evening of gardens, lighting, food, music and inspiration—and leave imagining what the next chapter of your own landscape could look like.
Garden After Dark is free to attend. Register in advance to reserve your spot.
Thursday, September 24 • 6PM – 9PM • Ringoes, NJ • Free admission • Registration required