Located: 18th Street and East Main Street, Columbus, OH 43205
The 18th and Main Pollinator Garden is a neighbor-led garden on the corner of 18th and East Main on the Near East Side. A plain corner lot is now full of sunflowers, coneflowers, yarrow, milkweed, and larkspur, with raised beds of kale, collards, and amaranth tucked in between, a hand-painted sign, and a bench for anyone who wants to sit and watch the bees work.
A crew of volunteers cares for the garden, showing up throughout the season to plant, weed, mulch, and haul wood chips. The Garden District has supported the garden as its fiscal sponsor, and in 2027 the garden joins the Garden District network as a full site. The people who built it will keep leading and tending it, now with more hands, shared tools, and a plan to keep the beds tidy, visible, and welcoming from the sidewalk all year.
The Garden District is partnering with the Native Plant Backyard Challenge, an annual program from Grange Insurance Audubon Center that helps central Ohio households turn part of their yard into native plant habitat for birds, pollinators, and other wildlife. Since 2021, more than 600 households have taken the challenge, and each year participants get a toolkit, workshops, a native plant sale, and a garden tour to help them get planting.
The 18th and Main Pollinator Garden lets you see the challenge at neighborhood scale. The same plants feeding the bees and birds on this corner can grow in a yard, a tree lawn, or a few pots on a porch. If you want to try it at home, check out the program below.
Garden District Corporation | EIN: 86-2591534
1311 College Ave Columbus, OH 43209
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