Important date reminders:
- Opening day in the gardens will be this Saturday, April 4th.
- The Seed Fair will be held at the Community Center next Saturday, April 11th from 9 am to 11 am.
Plot markers and corner posts: Please don’t move your numbered plot marker or the yellow corner posts of your plot. The numbered markers help new gardeners find their way around the gardens and are needed for the garden juries to correctly identify plots. Yellow corner posts permanently mark plot boundaries.
Plants and fences can extend to the border only in the fronts of plots. On the other three sides there must be six inches of space left as a path (so there is a 12-inch path between plots). Please check your borders at the beginning of the season so things can be moved early in the year, before plants begin to grow. Plants can grow larger than expected, so they should not be planted too close to the borders.
New guidelines for vole and mouse control: With permission from the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, the Garden Committee has approved new guidelines for vole and mouse control. Gardeners may now use snap traps to trap voles and mice in plots, but ONLY if these guidelines are followed:
- Traps must be placed inside a piece of PVC pipe that is 2-4 inches in diameter and at least 12 inches long to protect other wildlife like birds.
- Traps must be located in the interior of a plot, two feet from any plot borders.
- Only snap-traps are permitted. Sticky traps and in-ground mole traps are NOT permitted.
- Gardeners that use snap traps assume responsibility for safely setting them up and regularly checking them. Gardeners must also safely dispose of any trapped voles or mice in the designated area by the weed piles (these will be marked) or in an area of their plot visible to hawks and other predators.
Thanks, and happy gardening,
Lily
