On October 7^th, 2023, from 10 am- 4 pm, people from Kenton County were able to visit four unique sites within the county, showcasing gardens that are managed in a more sustainable way. Based on questions I am asked frequently as a horticulture agent; many people have a desire to understand how they can support wildlife while also looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact through their gardening and landscaping efforts. The garden sustainability tour intended to help bring to the people of Kenton County examples of gardens that were in transition and are working towards becoming more sustainable while approaching this at a scale that applies to a general homeowner, which is the target audience, typically someone who has access to and manages land.

For the tour, we partnered with the Sanitation District No.1 of Northern Kentucky (SD1) where they offered tours of their display gardens onsite that help to infiltrate stormwater and show how dense vegetation incorporating native plants can help to slow the flow and clean water. We partnered with Mark and Debbie Schmidt who own Monte Cassino Vineyards, a large private property. They showcased their landscape which is maintained in a naturalistic manner while working to control and reduce the impact that invasive plants have on their 20 acres.  We also partnered with Gina Este, opening her garden to visitors in Covington, showcasing the potential for removing almost all lawn space in a densely populated neighborhood to provide greater habitat for plants and wildlife while keeping all plant material onsite, including the leaves. Our extension office site was also featured on the tour, with master gardener volunteers onsite to showcase our arboretum and various education gardens, showcasing our commitment to sustainability. All in total between 21 – 40 people attended with information provided by each site and brochures to take home. According to one survey response from an attendant, when asked if they planned on implementing any of the sustainability practices that they heard about or witnessed at any of the tour sites if they were not already doing so, they responded: “definitely yes”.

As a first-time event, we were hoping to not only gauge interest in the topic of garden sustainability but to highlight publicly the commitment to this effort by the extension office, specifically the horticulture team. Proudly, we have made great efforts in the past year to create a welcoming space to display examples of sustainable gardens that can be applied to homeowner’s gardens to encourage and inspire others to transition their landscapes into ones that are healthier for Kenton County residents. Additionally, to support wildlife, reduce the need for supplemental fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, etc, and bring attention to the detrimental economic impact that invasive species have on our environment due to loss of habitat and species diversity.