The Sustainable Backyard Tour is a grassroots, all-volunteer event showcasing yards throughout St. Louis that demonstrate features of sustainability and organic gardening.
- Provide St. Louisans with the opportunity to experience first-hand outdoor spaces that demonstrate sustainable living practices.
- Illustrate that attractive and productive yards can flourish without the use of chemicals.
- Motivate attendees to introduce sustainable elements into their lives.
- Promote environmentally-friendly materials and techniques
- Encourage people to incorporate food production in their home environments.
Details
- During the tour, host yards will need to staff their gardens and be ready and willing to provide information and to explain the various items and techniques that are used in their yard.
- Visitors will be informed in advance that restroom facilities will not be available at host yards and that the properties will be available for viewing only between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on tour day.
- Hosts will pick up yard signs.
- Hosts are encouraged to label their plants and otherwise provide explanatory signage and display tools and best products used.
- The yard owner accepts the waiver of liability.
The focus is on backyards that:
- have enthusiastic owners willing to talk about their yards and their work planning and maintaining their gardens and animals
- embody ecological principles and use minimal or no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or gas-powered equipment
- have limite turf, or lawn-alternatives
- have limited concrete and asphalt, demonstrating pervious surface options instead
- are aesthetically pleasing, productive (food or habitat), and low-impact
- do not recommend Scott’s or Bayer products or encourage invasive plants
Security:
The tour listing will include your address and a description of your property. On tour day, be sure to lock your house up if no one is inside. You will be busy outside all day. Please do not leave your yard unattended for any amount of time, if possible. Make arrangements for your lunch al fresco—pack yourself a picnic or have friends deliver.
Insurance:
You may want to check with your homeowners insurance provider to make sure your policy covers visitors as the tour organization does not provide insurance coverage for you or your property.
Traffic:
How many visitors can you expect? As a free event without ticket sales, we can’t determine the exact number of tour goers who will visit your backyard. The more yard hosts, the more spread-out the traffic. In years past, hosts experienced a range of visitors, from just a few dozen to more than 300 over the course of the day.