Explore the GLS

ABOUT GLS

The Civic Garden Center introduces The Green Learning Station – a place where sustainability takes root. A place where all generations can get hands-on experience and support in using environmentally responsible methods to grow gardens anywhere and everywhere: yards, rooftops, walls, patios, driveways and parking lots.

It’s more than plants. The Green Learning Station is teaching about planting with
the environment in mind, including:

Rain barrels and pervious pavers
Rain gardens, bioswales and green roofs
Alternatives to traditional sprinklers
Making and using compost effectively
Gardening techniques that maximize water usage and space
Natural insect, disease and weed control
The health and economic benefits of locally grown food.

The Green Learning Station is a place for people to get outside, play around with science and sustainability concepts and take new ideas home to try. We offer a wide range of classes, tours and workshops for people of all ages, and science field trips for middle and high school students.

Our site is a learning laboratory for students, professors and researchers to collect information about “green infrastructure,” or surfaces that let water go through them instead of into the storm sewers. If you are interested in learning more about our research efforts, please contact Program Manager Kylie Johnson.

Field trip scheduling form

EXPLORE THE GLS

PERVIOUS PAVING

green roofs

rain gardens & bioswares

live stormwater experiment

To do at GLS

TO DO AT GLS

Visit the Green Learning Station for a scheduled tour, class or workshop or stop by for a stroll through our learning laboratory and gardens. The Civic Garden Center building is staffed from 9 am to 4 pm Mon-Sat and on evenings when we have classes. Educational signage on the site explains the strategies we are using to garden anywhere and everywhere, compost and catch rainwater where it falls.

VOLUNTEER

STEM FIELD TRIP

CLASSES

TOURS

Schools

SCHOOLS

It’s more than plants. The Green Learning Station is teaching about planting with
the environment in mind, including:

Rain barrels and pervious pavers
Rain gardens, bioswales and green roofs
Alternatives to traditional sprinklers
Making and using compost effectively
Gardening techniques that maximize water usage and space
Natural insect, disease and weed control
The health and economic benefits of locally grown food.

Your Home

YOUR HOME

Hiding within each piece of land is the potential to reduce water pollution, transform trash and grow healthy food and flowers. The Green Learning Station is a place to get ideas about how to make the most of whatever space you have – whether it is measured in acres or is less than the size of a table.

Turn Trash to Compost

Compost in Place

Layered Compost

Build a Compost Bin

Garden Anywhere

Build a Raised Bed

Catching Rain

Plan a Rain Garden

Turn Trash to Compost

When things that were once living (organic waste) get thrown in the trash and end up in a landfill, they break down slowly over decades. As they decompose without oxygen, they release methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas. Composting uses the natural cycle of decay to turn plant-based trash into a rich material that feeds plants and builds soil. Explore the pages in this section and the Compost Corner at the Green Learning Station to learn more about setting up a compost system that works for you.

What is Composting? How can it Benefit You?
Composting is a way to use the natural process of decomposition to benefit your garden.

It’s economical
Yard waste alone represents 16% of the waste stream; material that heads to the landfill. In many areas, homeowners are asked to place their yard waste in special bags and are charged extra money by their waste hauling companies. Add kitchen waste to that, and you end up with up to 30% of the waste stream. Composting is free.

It’s convenient
With a compost pile in the back yard, you save the time and effort of bagging, tying, carrying and hauling yard waste to the curb or drop off site. A compost pile requires a minimum of effort to produce a valuable product.

It makes soil healthier
Organic compost loosens soil for better root growth, improves the ability of a soil to hold water, and boosts the amount of available plant nutrients in your soil.

It helps recycle a large amount of waste —
If you compost both your kitchen scraps and yard waste, you will be amazed at how much lighter your trash can is on garbage day!

Compost in Place

Sheet composting is a low-work gardening strategy that recharges your garden beds. The basic idea is that you create a layered compost pile on top of an existing garden bed or where you want to build a new bed and let the compost critters do the rest. Depending on what you put into your sheet compost, your bed will turn into mature compost within 6 months to a year. Fall is a great time to set up a sheet compost (also called lasagna compost) because it is easy to collect all the plant material coming out of your garden and off of your trees and pile it up on a bed rather than bag it for collection or haul it to your compost pile.

If you are building a bed on top of existing grass, or the bed you are composting has lots of weeds your first layer is corrugated cardboard. Overlap pieces of cardboard until you cover the entire area. If you need to plant the area before the cardboard breaks down completely, you can use a box cutter to cut an X in the cardboard big enough to fit your root ball. Wet the cardboard and then start layering on top of it. You typically want to top high-nitrogen “greens” with high-carbon “browns.”

Sheet compost to build new circular bed: cardboard covered with finished compost, cut grasses and topped with ornamental grass mulch.
Browns include dry leaves of any kind, newspaper, sawdust, wood chips.

Greens include grass clippings (avoid those treated with chemicals), green plant material, manure from herbivores, fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps, coffee grounds.

Manure is a great addition to sheet compost, if you have a good source for it, as it needs to compost for about 6 months before being used in the garden, which is exactly what happens in sheet composting.

If you have it on hand, adding layers of finished compost inside or on top of the bed can help the pile break down faster by introducing microorganisms. A top layer of finished compost, mulch or leaf mold gives the bed a finished look. You bed will be ready to plant come spring!

Sheet compost of cut hosta leaves topped with fallen tree leaves and leaf mold.

Build a Compost Bin From Pallets

Pallets make excellent material for building a backyard compost bin. Why? First, they’re pre-assembled so the amount of work that goes into construction is drastically reduced. Makes things easy. Second, their layout allows great oxygenation – an important component for successful composting. Third, they’re prolific pieces that many places are eager to get rid of. They get sent around so much many businesses have more than they can use, and they’d love to free up the space. Just last week on Trash Day I saw 4 pallets on the curb in Northside and I’m still kicking myself for not picking them up.

So how do you go about constructing one? You’ll need to gather your materials. You’ll need:

3 pallets
Either a hammer or a drill (this depends on which method you prefer to use – either will work, just pick whichever is more convenient)
Either nails or wood screws (3 per joint is sufficient)

Wow, that was a short list.

If you’d like to make a multi-compartment compost bin, you’ll just need two more pallets per compartment. You can construct these compartments side by side to make turning your compost much easier. I recommend two compartments as this gives you one to start with and one to turn into so that you can make sure your compost develops evenly.

Step 1. You’ll want to put the side wall pallets up on their sides so that the 2×4 forms your joint surface. If you try to do it the other way, you’ll immediately see the difficulty in joining two together. The back pallet you will want to lie down on its side so that the 2×4 rests on the ground. Again, if you try positioning it the other way you’ll see that joining them together becomes and “issue.” Let’s try to minimize “issues” so as to make this a success.

Step 2. With your two pallets in place, put either a screw or a nail in the top portion going from the back of the bin forward, through the thin slat of the back pallet into the 2×4 of the side wall. Put another one about halfway down and a final one down near the ground. If you’re the type who likes to really make sure things like this are secure, have at it. 10 screws aren’t going to hurt.

Step 3. Place your second wall and secure it exactly like you did the first – through the slat on the back into the 2×4 of the wall. If you’re going to make a two or three compartment one, make sure on this one that you leave enough room to add a second pallet onto the back to form the rear of the second compartment.

Step 4. If you’re sticking with a one compartment bin, you’re finished with the construction. Take a look at our other article about setting up a layered compost heap to learn the best way to fill your compost bin.

Step 5. (for a multi compartment bin). Having left room on the back of your side pallet, fix another pallet, lying with its 2×4 on the ground, to the other half of the 2×4 of the side wall pallet. It should be flush with your back wall pallet.

Step 6. Finish the final side wall like you did the first one. If you want a three compartment bin, keep going. One of our neighborhood gardens has a 5 compartment bin due to the amount of waste that goes into it – it’d be quickly overwhelmed with anything smaller!

Compost is one of the most fascinating aspects of gardening. Head over to our other article about setting up a layered compost heap to see the most effective way to build your compost so that it breaks down. You’ll be amazed to see the soft, dirt like compost that develops.

Catching Rain

Do you know what happens to the water that runs down your drain? If you live in Cincinnati, it flows into a sewer system that was built over 125 years ago and needs some upgrades. Each year 11.5 billion gallons of raw sewage mixed with stormwater flow into the waterways in our region during combined sewer overflows. Combined sewers (40% of our current system) mix stormwater with sanitary sewage, with overflow pipes opening into streams to keep extra sewage out of basements and roads.

Combined Sewer System
In a typical year, 11.5 billion gallons of raw sewage mixed with storm water can flow into the waterways in our region during heavy rainfall events. We now have so much rain running off impervious surfaces like parking lots and roofs, that combined sewer overflows happen all too frequently, adding pollution to streams and rivers. You wouldn’t want to swim in what you flushed down the toilet, and aquatic plants and animals don’t want to either!

In order to reduce the amount of water pollution flowing from sewers to rivers, the Metropolitan Sewer District has implemented Project Groundwork – a community-based program to reduce or eliminate sewage overflows into local rivers and streams and sewage backups into basements.

You too can take action to keep raw sewage out of the Ohio River. Start by not running the dishwasher or washing machine while it is raining. Install a rain barrel. Dig up part of your lawn to plant a rain garden. You’ll find all these ideas, and some higher tech ones like green roofs and pervious pavement, at the Green Learning Station.

There is nothing like the taste of homegrown fruits and vegetables. Growing your own or buying from local farmers saves energy and reduces pollution associated with transportation, refrigeration and operating large stores. You can grow some of your own food no matter where you live. It can actually be easier to grow food on urban sites where there are fewer animals around to eat your crops. We’ve tucked fruits, vegetables and grains into unlikely places at the Green Learning Station and can teach you how to do the same!

Build a raised bed in a day

What is a Raised Bed Garden?

A raised bed garden is built on top of the ground on plain dirt. Raised bed gardens are usually contained by a wood or stone structure that keeps the bed in place. You can plant herbs, vegetables, flowers, shrubs, pretty much anything, in a raised bed. The main advantage is having that dedicated area of improved soil. But there are added benefits, such as better warmth (so you can work it sooner in spring); better drainage; looser, more workable soil; low-maintenance.

Building a Box for a Raised Bed Garden

Most contained raised beds are constructed from wood because it is easy to work with and it is inexpensive. Note that while using treated wood will certainly retard rotting, you will want to weigh the advantages of longer life against the hazards of toxic chemicals in treated lumber.

Here are instructions for building a simple raised bed frame using untreated white oak lumber, which is naturally more resistant to rot than most readily available woods. Depending upon where you live, cedar may also be an option.

Layered Compost

Setting up a layered compost heap is a great way to start a new compost pile and does not require a bin (although you can use one). The layers provide a mix of textures, food sources, and dwelling places for the microorganisms and other invertebrates who turn yard waste and food scraps into black gold. You can start a compost heap at anytime of year, with the materials you use varying based on the season and what you have pulled out of the garden or stockpiled for this purpose.

Loosen the soil 1 to two 2 feet deep to provide critters with easy access to your heap.
Lay down sticks and old corn and sunflower stalks in a 2 ft by 2 ft square. The sticks help with aeration. Air can get underneath the pile as well as on the sides.
Pile 2 inches of old dried out yard waste – flower stems, straw, leaves, bean pod shells
Pile 2 inches of manure or green waste – coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable waste, fresh plant material
Pile 2 inches of soil or finished compost.
Repeat until you use all of your material or your pile is tall enough for your standards.
Cover the whole pile with leaves.

Layered Compost Pile in a 3 bin system

Compost is possibly the most concrete life cycle example we have in the garden. We pull our frosted tomatoes, animal waste, and fallen leaves out of gardens, barns, and yards – put them in a pile – and in a couple months we have living soil full of bacteria and bugs that aerate, nourish, and sometimes even water our crops for us. The composting gardener is not a vegetable gardener but a micro-organism farmer.

More and more scientists are looking at the biodiversity of soil rather than the nutrient content. You can actually have your soil tested for beneficial bacteria and fungi. Bacteria counts can tell you how much nitrogen and phosphorus your plants are getting, how much air is getting down to the roots, and what kind of diseases live in your soil. ATTRA lists a number of places you can send soil samples for alternative soil test.

Garden Anywhere and Everywhere

Professionals

PROFESSIONALS

The Green Learning Station has a large array of sustainable building and landscaping practices packed into a small urban lot. That makes it an ideal site for hosting continuing education workshops for professionals in the green building industries. We offer seminars periodically and are happy to coordinate with firms to provide a site for trainings you wish to offer. Contact the Green Learning Station Coordinator if you wish to discuss an event.

Green Business Database

Add your company to our Green Business Database for the Greater Cincinnati region.

Professional Development Seminars

We are in the process of planning a very exciting series of CEU workshops for architects, landscape architects, landscape designers, civil engineers, LEED GAs and APs and plant professionals.