Buy a rain barrel
Capture some of the rain that falls on your roof for your garden with a rain barrel and keep that much water out of the storm sewers.
Chicago residents can purchase barrels for $40 starting May 21 at the Chicago Center for Green Technology, 445 N. Sacramento Ave., and Greenmaker Building Supply, 2500 N. Pulaski Rd. Checks only; there is a limited supply, so first come, first served.
For more information, including hours, call 312-743-9283.
Learn how to make your own rain barrel at www.cityofchicago.org/ environment. Click on “Learn About Rain Barrels.”
Barrels also can be bought from many mail-order garden tool companies.
Let’s talk environmentalism
He’s always entertaining and very often right. So drop by and hear Mike Nowak riff on “Good Planets are Hard to Find — Garden Variety Environmentalism” Monday for his talk hosted by the Wicker Park Garden Club.
Nowak is host of WGN radio’s “Let’s Talk Gardening,” president of the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association and columnist for Chicagoland Gardening magazine.
He is full of advice on how ordinary gardeners can rethink what they do. The talk is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wicker Park Field House, 1425 N. Damen Ave. Cost is $8; to register, call 773-278-9075.
Mulch in moderation
An organic mulch is invaluable for holding in moisture and reducing weeds, but more is not better, says University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Greg Stack. Lay 2 to 3 inches of compost, shredded leaves, cocoa shells or other small-scale mulch in garden beds. Coarser materials, such as wood chips, can go 3 to 4 inches deep around trees.
In large piles of mulch, microbial activity can heat up, as it does in a compost pile. Crystal Lake fire officials blamed a heavy layer — 4 to 6 inches — for a causing a recent fire. A moderate layer can’t heat up that much, Stack says.
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ebotts@tribune.com
IN THE WEB EDITION: Taking a cutting from someone else’s garden — is it a crime? Beth Botts ‘fesses up. See her blog, The Chicago Gardener, at chicagotribune.com/garden.
