Meet urban gardeners who have transformed their small spaces on
the East Side of Milwaukee.
Last Sunday of every July
11am-4pm
Meet urban gardeners who have transformed their small spaces on
the East Side of Milwaukee.
Last Sunday of every July
11am-4pm
You will not see another garden tour like this one in southeastern Wisconsin. We are urban gardeners designing and creating unique places in our small spaces. Virtually all concepts, construction and planting have been done by the tour hosts you will meet. And it's completely free, thanks to our sponsors.
You will see new start-up gardens that have grown out of a dust bowl and a rocky courtyard. Visit a rooftop oasis, an incredible herbal garden and a backyard blaze of brilliant color. See how a wall of hops provides a house-cooling vista. Learn how one group works together to feed fellow Milwaukeeans healthy salads. Inspect a from-scratch custom greenhouse. In every case, our gardeners have personally transformed their urban lots in ways that will inspire you.
Inviting you into our yards is one of our favorite days of the year. Bring cameras, sketch pads and questions. Expect seeds and other offerings from select hosts. And know that we look forward to learning from you through your experiences, too!
Yes! Ours was the only tour in the area to go on as scheduled in 2020. Visitors were thrilled to attend a live event, and the City reported no contact tracing linked to the tour.
We intentionally feature gardens in a contained area to ensure you can walk, bike or drive to all of them and have time to spend at each. Last year, the tour was entirely inside an 11-block by 6-block area. {And many tour hosts will have cold beverages waiting for you!}
The host gardeners themselves, so any questions you have will be answered while you're here. And we always have new gardens every year.
Totally free! That's thanks to our local sponsors who cover all our advertising and display costs.
Mary Liner of Shorewest Realtors has been helping families realize their dreams of home ownership for over 30 years.
Dale and the crew at Downer True Value Hardware have been helping those same families make their house a home for even longer.
Maps are available at Downer True Value Hardware at 2629 N. Downer Avenue beginning Saturday, July 23rd during business hours.
We want you to visit the local business that generously supports our tour every year. And many of our long-time visitors make a habit of arriving early each year to plan out their route while dining at the many restaurants in the neighborhood.
