Bond Hill Learning Garden

The Bond Hill Learning Garden was created in 2024 through the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund's Make Over Project, a partnership that transformed unused space on our campus into a thriving native garden. What began as a single build day has grown into a lasting resource for our students and our neighborhood, a shared space where learning, service, and community come together.

At Xavier Jesuit Academy, we believe every element of creation is worthy of wonder. The Bond Hill Learning Garden gives our students a living classroom just steps from campus, a place to observe, tend, and grow alongside the natural world. Rooted in cura personalis, the garden nurtures the whole student: hands in the soil, curiosity in the science, and gratitude for creation itself.

Pollinator Plants

The garden is planted with native species chosen to support pollinators and the butterflies, bees, and birds that depend on them. Featured plants include:

• Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), a host plant for monarch caterpillars
• Virginia pipevine (Aristolochia tomentosa), host plant for the pipevine swallowtail
• Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), host plant for the spicebush swallowtail
• Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), another swallowtail host plant
• Pawpaw (Asimina triloba), Ohio's native fruit tree and host plant for the zebra swallowtail
• Coneflower (Echinacea varieties), a favorite of bees and butterflies
• Anise hyssop (Agastache varieties), beloved by bees and hummingbirds
• False indigo (Baptisia 'Grand Cascade')
• Blue star (Amsonia varieties)
• Redbud (Cercis canadensis), an early spring pollen source
• Prairie dropseed and switchgrass (Sporobulus and Panicum varieties), native grasses that provide habitat structure
• Aster, phlox, and anemone varieties, extending blooms through the seasons

Together, these plantings create a garden that blooms and supports pollinators from early spring through fall.

Activities in the Garden

Students visit throughout the year for hands-on lessons in planting, harvesting, and observing pollinators and plant life cycles, an outdoor extension of our commitment to caring for creation. Science and religion classes often meet in the garden, students have even built their own bird feeders as part of religion class. St. Xavier High School's Environmental Club regularly joins our students for hands-on activities, and when the Cincinnati Zoo visits, their team works alongside students to help maintain the garden.

Maintained by Our Community

The Bond Hill Learning Garden is cared for by a dedicated team of volunteers who give their time throughout the year to keep the garden thriving. XJA also continues its collaboration with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, whose guidance helps ensure the garden remains a healthy, sustainable habitat for pollinators and a strong learning resource for our students.

We are grateful for these partnerships and for every volunteer who tends this space. If you are interested in helping care for the Learning Garden, we would love to have you join us.