Covington neighborhoods partner to resurrect garden tour June 20-21

It’s been 14 years since Old Seminary Square last held a garden tour, and this year the Covington neighborhood is teaming up with the Westside Action Coalition to host a 27-plot tour. It will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on June 20 and 21 and span across the two historic neighborhoods.
 
For the past 50 years, many Covington neighborhoods held garden tours. Holly Young, organizer of this weekend’s garden tour and vice president of the Westside Action Coalition, says the tours were widely publicized and drew attention from garden magazines, and not just because of the gardens.
 
“They were a huge draw because of the pre-Civil War and Civil War architecture in the neighborhood,” she says.
 
The picturesque images you see of wrought iron fences in New Orleans were inspired by Covington architecture. The iconic look originated here and came down the Mississippi River with riverboat passengers.
 
Gardening and the garden tours have fallen by the wayside over the past 10 years or so due to harder economic times, Young says. People haven’t had the time and money to garden, but the Westside Action Coalition wants to bring this pastime back to the people of Covington.
 
Over the past year, the Westside Action Coalition hosted a seed and plant sale and received a grant from the Center for Great Neighborhoods to help encourage gardening.
 
“There’s been a lot of development and advancement in the past five years,” Young says. “People weren’t walking down the street 10 years ago, but now they are. The neighborhood has really turned around, and now it’s time to celebrate that cohesive neighborhood.”
 
The garden tour will feature three public spaces in the Westside — Orchard Park; Shotgun Row’s park; and the Riddle-Yates Garden, which is the longest-run community garden in Northern Kentucky. The other 24 locations on the tour will be gardens at private residences.
 
The tour is a fundraiser for the Westside Action Coalition as well as for the John G. Carlisle School. There are plans to launch a garden-related project with the school’s students, but nothing has been set in stone yet.
 
The event will also include a raffle, silent auction and art exhibit. The exhibit will be on Robbins Street, which will be blocked off during the tour, and feature artwork specifically designed for the home and garden.
 
Tickets are available online at CovingtonGardenTour.com for $11 and day-of for $15 at the corner of Robbins and Russell. Parking will be available on the street as well as at John G. Carlisle School.