Building community.
Nurturing nature.
Empowering action.
-
Whether it’s a financial gift or a gift of supplies, we can’t do what we do without your support.
-
Our volunteers are the lifeblood of the Civic Garden Center and the reason we can accomplish so much.
-
We offer classes in everything from gardening to sustainability to cooking. What do you want to learn?
-
From food to trees to native plants, growing and teaching others to grow is at the heart of what we do.
Upcoming Events
Did you know that the CGC is host to seven different types of composting systems? Take a walk with us to learn about the different methods of composting we have and how you can incorporate composting into your life! You’ll see Earth Cubes, vermicompost, bokashi, Johnson-Su bioreactors, a three-bin system, a tumbler and a top-loading composter.
COST: Free!
Join award-winning veteran Cheesemaker Eduardo Rodriguez to explore the history, culture, process, and uses of Ricotta! In this beginner-friendly class, you'll sample some cheeses, participate in a demonstration, and have the opportunity to ask questions. You'll go home with the basket and cheese cloth needed to make Ricotta as well as a basic recipe.
INSTRUCTOR: Eduardo Rodriguez (owner of My Artisano and Slow Food Cincinnati member)
COST: $35
We’ll be cleaning up the Open Oak Landing and exploring why winter habitat is essential for a healthy backyard ecosystem.
We’ll be in the onsite veggie garden at Hauck Botanic Garden learning how best to plant and maintain a garden at this time of year.
Join CGC Community Engagement Coordinator Victoria for a special opportunity to connect and collaborate!
We’ll be reviewing student submissions to our Green Teens Challenge and awarding points based on provided rubrics.
We’ll be cleaning up the Butterfly Garden and exploring why winter habitat is essential for a healthy backyard ecosystem.
Sharpen your coffee-tasting skills with Cody Brown, Director of Operations for Proud Hound Coffee!
In this beginner-friendly class, Cody will take you on a deep-dive sensory journey through the world of coffee—including its geography, essential processes (like farming, processing, and roasting), the people around the world who make it possible. After a lecture and demonstration, you'll get hands-on to learn specific tasting skills such as identifying profile notes. You'll also have the opportunity to ask questions.
INSTRUCTOR: Cody Brown (Proud Hound Director of Operations)
COST: $35
Kickstart your week with a trip to the garden and engage in seasonally relevant activities with the Lil’ Sprouts in your life! This free drop-in series for children ages 3 to 8 and their caregivers offers our youngest gardeners and nature lovers an opportunity to learn more about the natural world. We hold Lil' Sprouts on the second and fourth Monday of each month.
COST: Free!
Have you checked out our Green Learning Station recently? We have rooftop gardens, a compost demonstration area, rainwater catchment systems and an indoor green wall, just to name a few of our current projects! Join us for an informative, informal tour and have your sustainability questions answered by Luis Aguilar-Dwyer, our Environmental Education Specialist.
COST: Free!
The Hauck Arboretum may just be Cincinnati’s best kept botanical secret! A stroll along the pathways of this historic public garden reveals new surprises on each visit. Join us for an informal walk around Hauck Botanic Garden and discover the history of the park and the plants growing within it.
COST: Free!
We’ll be cleaning up the Woodland Edge and exploring why winter habitat is essential for a healthy backyard ecosystem.
The CHPL Bird Nerds and the Civic Garden Center invite you to come discover why birdwatching is the ideal activity to combine with the practice of mindfulness! Mindful birdwatching is birdwatching quietly, intentionally and calmly while engaging with the natural world around you! Traditional bird watching is often associated with bird checklists, field guides and carrying binoculars or cameras, which can all be fun, but we’re inviting you to come to enjoy a more meditative approach.
FACILITATOR: Lea Shull
COST: Free!
We’re breaking ground on the Green Buffer of native shrubs and perennials that will welcome future visitors and beautify a busy intersection.
Learn how to turn a dried-out stem of dogbane into a strong rope—and how that rope can be used to ignite fire from materials commonly found in local fields and forests.
INSTRUCTOR: Howie Zuefle
COST: $35
The flowers in the garden have put on quite a show... but what’s this!? An encore! After the bloom comes the seed, and knowing how and when to harvest is the key to a gardener’s two favorite words: free plants! Let's go seed hunting and chat about how to prepare the bounty for next year.
FACILITATOR: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist)
COST: Included with CGC membership
In this introductory class, you'll learn the fundamentals of plant preservation. No prior experience needed! After a demonstration of how to press flowers or leaves, you'll create a small piece of art with pressed botanical materials to take home.
INSTRUCTOR: Luis Aguilar-Dwyer (CGC Environmental Education Specialist)
COST: $35
We’ll be cleaning up the Urban Rain Garden and exploring why winter habitat is essential for a healthy backyard ecosystem.
We’re breaking ground on the Green Buffer of native shrubs and perennials that will welcome future visitors and beautify a busy intersection.
Love looking at plants? Learn how to draw one! Get in touch with the joy of drawing as you look more closely at the wide variety of plants growing at Hauck Botanic Garden—even if you've never drawn before.
INSTRUCTOR: Gratia Banta
COST: $50
Kickstart your week with a trip to the garden and engage in seasonally relevant activities with the Lil’ Sprouts in your life! This free drop-in series for children ages 3 to 8 and their caregivers offers our youngest gardeners and nature lovers an opportunity to learn more about the natural world. We hold Lil' Sprouts on the second and fourth Monday of each month.
COST: Free!
Join CGC Community Engagement Coordinator Victoria for a special opportunity to connect and collaborate!
We’ll be learning what to do with all those leaves that are piling up in the lawn. (Hint: It WON’T involve black trash bags!)
In this beginner-friendly workshop, you’ll learn how to properly dry, seal, and coat real botanicals in resin so they remain vibrant, protected, and long-lasting, then make your own unique pieces to take home.
If you'd like, join us for an optional harvesting session from 9:30-10:30am on Saturday, September 26. You're welcome to come harvest botanical material to preserve from the CGC grounds or bring pieces from home to be preserved in time for the jewelry-making workshop on November 1.
INSTRUCTOR: Breanna Cole
COST: $100