Good topic, TTS. I use Trends quite a bit for content ideas (great for blog posts). When people bemoan the idea of not being able to come up with something to write on their site about, they tend to not be looking beyond the tip of their nose. Google Trends, Adwords, Pinterest, Etsy, Houzz, Twitter, etc are all amazing sources for content ideas.
If you really want to "write local", which I highly recommend, you only need open up your local paper and see what is going on in your community. Is that indoor landscaping show coming up? Write to that. If it's ahead of the show, what should people be on the lookout for? If it's after the show, write a post on the design trends you see emerging. If you don't rent a booth, there's no reason you can't capitalize on it nonetheless.
a guy who knows the lawn industry, branding, and web strategy