Open Gardens Weekend: More Info

People LOVE visiting beautiful gardens!

Thank you for your interest in Project GREEN’s widely anticipated event, the Open Gardens Weekend 2025, June 28-29 2025!

How does the Open Gardens Weekend work?

  • Any resident in the greater Iowa City / Coralville area (including outside city limits) can open his or her garden for the event, following a short online application process (deadline: June 1). Then the garden owner simply picks up an Open Gardens Weekend yard sign and displays it at the entrance to their garden during the hours of the event. We hope to have numerous participating gardens each year.
  • The Open Gardens event is FREE for visitors to attend – no tickets required.
  • Money for Project GREEN and for the event is raised through local business sponsorship of the event, as well as individual donations. In return for support, business sponsor names will prominently appear on the Open Gardens Map, which will be available for free before the event only at their retail locations.
  • The Open Gardens Map (in physical printed form only) will list descriptions and locations of the open gardens.
  • The maps will be available the week before the event at sponsoring business retail locations, for free
  • The maps will be available to pick up for free on the days of the event at sponsoring business locations (during business hours) and at Ashton House.
  • On both Saturday and Sunday at Ashton House, there will be access to public restrooms and water, and tours of the beautiful Project GREEN Gardens at Ashton House.
  • Project GREEN believes that the Open Gardens Weekend will eventually become a prominent Iowa City cultural event attracting thousands of local and out-of-town gardening enthusiasts, based on the success of the Buffalo (NY) Garden Walk.
  • We hope you will enjoy participating in the Open Gardens Weekend, whether as visitor, sponsor, or Open Garden host. Thanks for your support of Project GREEN’s mission of community beautification!

How can I get involved in the Open Gardens Weekend?

1. Attend the event: The more people who attend, the bigger the event will be, and therefore the more sponsors will be willing to give to Project GREEN to sponsor future years’ events. Who knew that by simply enjoying visiting some gardens for FREE, you could help raise money for Project GREEN’s mission of beautifying Johnson County?

2. Share your garden for the event: Project GREEN hopes to offer visitors numerous gardens of differing styles and sizes. There are no qualifications regarding size, design, or perfect weed-free maintenance. Flowers, vegetables, whatever. If you’re proud of your gardening efforts and are located in the greater Iowa City / Coralville area (including outside city limits), we’d love to include your garden in our Open Gardens Weekend. Thanks for sharing your garden for a good cause!

3. Volunteer to help with the event: There are a number of ways you can help Project GREEN with our event, even if you’ve never picked up a garden trowel:

  • Spread the word about the Open Gardens Weekend: Please let your friends and family know about our event; post it on Facebook or other social media; mention it at work. We appreciate your help in getting the word out!
  • If you know of a nice Iowa City/Coralville-area garden, please ask the garden owner if they might be willing to share their garden for a good cause. They may not be aware of our event yet, and might enjoy the appreciative visitors who will visit their garden.
  • If you know of a local business that might like the positive attention that comes from sponsoring a local event, we’d certainly appreciate you putting in a good word for Project GREEN.
  • Thank our sponsors. Please let our sponsors know that you appreciate their support for this FREE event and for Project GREEN’s mission to make Johnson County an even more beautiful place to live and work!

Thanks so much for your interest in the Project GREEN Open Gardens Weekend!