Roll up your sleeves and fill raised beds with fresh soil and spread mulch along pathways at local community gardens with the awesome Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 20, the first day of spring.

Meet at the Civic Garden Center, 2715 Reading Road, Avondale, and then head out with staff and other volunteers to well-loved community gardens around the city. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Bring friends, family members or come on your own for a day of gratifying community work. RSVP Jan Kivora-Simms 513-221-0981, ext. 14 or jsimms@civicgardencenter.org before March 18.

Wall Street Journal reporter Gwendolyn Bounds spent one year converting to organic gardening and ended up with the lushest lawn on her block. Here’s how she describes the silly battles that arise between neighbors when it comes to lawn care: “As the organic lawn movement grows, so are tensions in some communities. The latest front is over whether lawn-care methods are the horticultural equivalent of secondhand smoke: a choice that affects the whole community.”

The venerable Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati in collaboration with the Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association presents compelling reasons for a pesticide-free lawn in a two-hour class 10 a.m. Aug. 9 at 2715 Reading Rd., Avondale. Wes Duren, landscape manager at Marvin’s Organic Gardens, leads the class.