As we count down the days until the official start of spring, we’re making a list of all the things we’re looking forward to this vernal season: warm weather, the return of Thunder Over Louisville, the Kentucky Derby, and of course, garden tours.
These three previously featured gardens were highlighted on garden tours in years past, and we’re revisiting them now as we gear up to visit a few new gardens in the coming months. Take a peek.
Biodiverse blooms
When Julie Johnson first moved into her Crescent Hill abode, the property was the perfect size and boasted a saltwater pool. The rest of the backyard, however, featured nothing but rocks.
She spent her first winter in the home hauling rocks away, then crafted a chemical-free outdoor oasis that was featured on the Crescent Hill Garden Tour last year.
In the front yard, Johnson grows fresh fruit and veggies to enhance every meal. The beds have successfully grown everything from garlic, Swiss chard, and sugar snap peas to bush beans, broccoli, and tomatoes. There are also fresh strawberries ripe for the picking, with blackberry vines along the side of the home.
To make the garden more sustainable and less reliant on mowing, Johnson replaced part of the front lawn with dwarf mondo grass. She has also added azaleas and brought periwinkle from the backyard to the front, helping to tie the space together.
Peonies in the garden of Julie Johnson in Crescent Hill. May 22, 2025
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Johnson emphasizes that while her gardens are aesthetically pleasing and she enjoys working in them, the space is for the birds as much as it is for herself.
“I read the book (by) Douglas Tallamy, (called) ‘Nature’s Best Hope,’” she explained. “It’s about how we have to turn our own little homes and yards into havens for all the insects so that the birds can survive.”
The book suggests that people reduce lawn areas by half and recreate some of our planet’s missing ecosystems by choosing appropriate plants. Inspired by that idea, Johnson has incorporated as little grass as possible and filled both her front and back yards with pollinator-friendly plants. She also avoids all chemicals and uses a soil amendment rather than mulch.
“It’s a small space,” Johnson said, “but I hope (it seems) really pretty and inviting.”
Living legacy
In 1988, Betty Kilgore Moss Gibbs founded the Kilgore Samaritan Counseling Center to ensure counseling services were accessible to all, regardless of financial circumstances. The center now offers 6,000 counseling hours each year to clients ages 5 to 95.
The 25th Annual Kilgore Home & Garden Tour, held last year, was especially meaningful to Betty’s family, who wanted to celebrate Gibbs and two of her passions: the Kilgore Samaritan Counseling Center and her garden.
Tourgoers were able to peruse the four-acre Mockingbird Valley estate that once belonged to Betty and her husband, George.
“She and her husband were kind of … amateur master gardeners themselves,” said Susan Moss, who is married to Betty’s son, Jack. “We have the original plans for the gardens. They were done by (a) landscape architect in 1929. … Betty and George restored the garden to reflect the original design.”
The Gibbs home — built in 1928 as the “Irish Country Home” for the son of the founder of Glemore Distillery — has several gardens and landscaping that fill the four acres in Mockingbird Valley. The home is on the 2025 Kilgore Garden Tour, founded by Betty Kilgore Moss Gibbs. May 14, 2025
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The restoration included adding a swimming pool and cultivating a gorgeous garden featuring hundreds of plants.
Today, lots of hands help keep their vision alive, including those of Elizabeth Kuhn, a master gardener with a botany degree who has worked on the property since 2016.
“She was one of my first clients when I started my business,” Kuhn said, adding that the garden is home to at least 300 varieties of trees, shrubs, and plants.
“George was really into trees,” she added. A forester by profession, he even contributed to the national effort to restore American chestnuts, working with local groups to develop hybrids.
The patio of the Gibbs home with accents of color from two floral arrangements. May 14, 2025
The garden is divided into different areas: there’s a white garden blooming with azaleas, mock orange, and dwarf Solomon’s seal; a woodland section featuring native species like mayapple and wood poppy; and the remains of George’s organic vegetable garden.
“(There are also) lots of different kinds of trees,” Kuhn added. “I think that’s what makes the property so special.”
Love for Louisville
The land on which Mary Armstrong’s Crescent Hill home sits has come a long way since it was constructed in 1948.
“There were 14 trees that aligned the property when I purchased it (in 1984),” she said, adding that in 2022, she lost a lot of the yard’s greenery due to severe winter weather. “I designed the yard landscaping for lower maintenance.”
One fun aspect of the low-maintenance garden — which was featured on the 30th Anniversary Crescent Hill Garden Tour in 2024 — is the dry creek bed, which adds an aesthetically pleasing element to the backyard.
“The land slopes down, and water was running into my garage,” Armstrong explained, “so I built this dry creek bed with a sump pump in the center to catch the water.”
The front yard garden of the home of Mary Armstrong has multiple sculptural pieces and planters. April 30, 2024.
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Armstrong has incorporated just a handful of plants throughout, including foster hollies, boxwoods, and other evergreens. But the star of the show is her seemingly flawless fescue grass — and there’s one basic rule that Armstrong follows to keep that grass in tip-top shape.
“(It’s like) I tell my kids,” she said. “The only way you’re going to have pretty grass is (to) never walk on it — and I’m a firm believer of that.”
Armstrong’s color palette is primarily monochromatic, with black, white, and gray equine and fleur-de-lis accents throughout.
“I just sort of felt like I should follow the theme of Louisville,” she said, adding that the concept developed organically, after finding horse head statues at Architectural Salvage.
The front garden of Mary Armstrong’s home on Eastover Court. April 30, 2024
There are a few other decorations that don’t boast horses or fleur de lis, like glass floats, driftwood, and an old wine rack that now holds lights. But Armstrong has managed to incorporate everything seamlessly, designing a peaceful, beautiful — and most importantly, low-maintenance — garden space.
“I could write a book about the compliments I get,” she exclaimed.
Know a house that would make a great Home of the Week? Email writer Lennie Omalza at aloha@lennieomalza.com or Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at kgregory@gannett.com.
nuts & bolts: Biodiverse blooms
Owner: Julie Johnson, who is retired.
Home: This is a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, 2,700-square-foot carriage house in Crescent Hill. It was built in 1905 and converted into a home in 1957.
Distinctive elements: Designed by architect Stratton O. Hammon; original hayloft doors located on either side of the house; saltwater pool added 20 years ago; kitchen garden with raised beds in front yard.
nuts & bolts: Living legacy
Owner: This is the estate of the late Betty Kilgore Moss Gibbs.
Home: This is a four-bedroom, five-and-two-half bath, 6,480-square-foot Tudor home in Mockingbird Valley. It was built in 1928.
Distinctive elements: Murals reminiscent of the couple’s Italian honeymoon in the kitchen and butler’s pantry; Welsh headboard used as a mantel in the family room; four acres that include gardens, a pool, pool house, koi pond, and patio area; sun porch; family collectibles; open floor plan ideal for entertaining.
Applause! Applause! Betty and George Gibbs were pleased with the work provided by interior designer Libby Rush of Bittners; gardens by Elizabeth Kuhn, owner of Backyard Botanicals and Maureen Stites, owner of 64 Yellow Roses; landscaping and grounds by Kevin Bowling, owner of Bowling Nursery.
nuts & bolts: Love for Louisville
Owner: Mary Armstrong, who is retired. She worked for a federal judge with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Home: This is a four-bed, two-and-a-half bath, 1,795-square-foot, single-family home in Crescent Hill. It was built in 1948.
Distinctive elements: Dry creek bed; large boulders; horse and fleur de lis accents; repurposed glass floats and other items.
Applause! Applause! Crane Landscaping and Great Louisville Lawn Service.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Explore 3 Louisville gardens, from a dreamy oasis to a historic estate
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