Civic Garden Center

Founded in 1942 out of the Victory Garden movement, we are THE place to go in Cincinnati to learn about gardening, sustainability, and horticulture.

Here we host classes, a horticultural library, several gardens for visitors to enjoy free of charge, the Green Learning Station and an outdoor compost classroom; the building and grounds are available for event and meeting rental.

Within the Greater Cincinnati region, we support more than 70 community and school gardens, are actively restoring 2 forests located directly adjacent to schools, and host regular educational experiences in local forests.

The CGC offers these programs at no cost to participants, thanks to the generosity of our donors, private and government grants and corporate sponsorships.

Our largest fundraising event, The Plant Sale, is held annually the first weekend in May.

Thanks to the support of hundreds of dedicated volunteers the event has now survived more than 50 years and offers a diverse range of plants, vegetables, trees, gardening supplies, and anything else you might need to get your own garden started.

Many opportunities to volunteer are offered both on and off site including opportunities to assist in maintaining Hauck Botanical Gardens, working in local community gardens, and restoring some of Cincinnati’s public forests.

Donors and volunteers of the CGC have borrowing privileges from the Hoffman Library, our on-site horticultural library.

Volunteers have the opportunity to attend many of our classes at no cost or a reduced cost.