NORTH SHORE gardeners have
just two more days to enter the
North Shore Gardens '94 contest.
In its eighth year, the competi-
tion is open to residential gardens
as well as commercial Jandscap-

Gardens
open to
would-be
composters

From page 18

municipalities also have compost
demonstration gardens that offer
composting information and show
interested visitors a number of dif-
ferent compost bins in action.

On the North Shore compost
demonstration gardens are located
at I5th and Argyle in West
Vancouver, and 333 Brooksbank,
in North Vancouver.

The West Vancouver compost
garden is open from dawn to dusk
for self-guided tours. The Park and
Tilford Gardens are open 9:30
a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday,
and weekends 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For information on municipal
compost demonstration gardens
within the region — or for general
composting advice — cal! the
compost hotline at 736-2250.

There are oniy a few guidelines
for a successful compost.

@ First, ensure that your com-
poster is rodent-resistant so you
don’t attract raccoons or rats.

This is done by making sure that
your bin has a secure lid and base,
and lining the interior of a wooden
bin with wire mesh. Also, keep
your compost free of material that
wo. ild attract pests.

B While uncooked vegetable and
fruit scraps, tea and coffee
grounds, and rinsed-out egg shells
are perfect compost additions,
meat, bones, oil or greasy scraps
and cooked food are an invitation
to local wildlife.

To facilitate the most rapid
break-down of organic matter into
usable compost material, house-
holders should try to add nitrogen-
tich (green materials} in roughly
the same proportion as carbon-rich
(brown material).

Green nitrogen-rich materials
include fresh grass clippings and
food waste. Brown materials
include straw, fallen leaves, and
dried-out grass cuttings.

You should try to aerate your
compost pile by prodding it with a
ski pole or similar instrument
every week or so, and check that
it’s feeling moist, but not wet.

It can take anywhere from three
months to a year before the vari-
ous ingredients in your compost
pile break down into nutrient-
laden earth. At that point, there are
many uses for the finished prod-
uct.

You can support this :ummer’s
water conservation efforts by
using compost as a protective
mulch around the base of your
trees, shrubs and plants.

Finished compost can be used
as an ingredient in your potting
soil, or mixed in with the top six
inches of soil in your flower beds.
Some gardeners even use it as a
lawn conditioner.

Composting is a low-tech. inex-
pensive form of waste reduction
that your whole family can enjoy
-~ everyone from the gardener in
the house to the kids who will love
watching the worms at work.

— Courtesy of the Greater
Vancouver Regional District,

Last chance to enter North Shore garden contest

well as at tocal libraries and nurs-
eries.

Completed forms can be
mailed to North Shore Garden
Contest '94, District of West
Vancouver, Parks and Recreation

ing and gardens.

With a closing date of July 17,
contestants should get their entry
forms in as soon as possible.
These forms are available at
North Shore municipal halls, as

Department, 2nd Floor, 750 17th
St., West Vancouver, V7V 3T3.
They can also be dropped off
at any of the three municipal
halls.
The annual tour of selected

gardens will be held on Sunday,
July 24,

For more information on the
competition or the tour, cali 986-
0070 or 925-4223.

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