Home Front Home Front (March 19, 2004)

TAKE A TREE WALK? . . . Ever wondered just what trees are planted around Palo Alto? In honor of California Arbor Day, Canopy: Trees for Palo Alto is organizing a Tree Walk tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. around the Main Library and Art Center. Certified arborist Kevin Raftery will guide the free tour of Palo Alto's common and unusual trees. Meet on the lawn in front of the Main Library entrance, 1213 Newell Road, Palo Alto. For information, call Jana Dilley at (650) 964-6110 or visit www.canopy.org.

HEADS UP FOR CHARM . . . Mills College Charming Cottages of Palo Alto home tour, a fundraiser for Mills College, will be held next Friday, March 26, and Saturday, March 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at five local homes. Tickets are $25 by March 19 or $30 at the door. Call (650) 368-5798 for tour and ticket information.

BACKYARD DECORATING . . . Palo Alto Weekly columnist Kit Davey, allied member ASID, will offer a one-evening class called "Backyard Decorating: How to Create an Enchanting Garden" on Wednesday, March 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Foothill College, 12345 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills. Davey's class will range from how to use unusual objects to decorate your garden to creating vignettes viewable from inside the house. Fee is $35, plus $3 materials fee that night. For information, call (408) 864-8817.

ONE-DAY WONDER . . . Volunteers are needed for the Collective Roots Garden Project's "Done in a Day" Project, tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at East Palo Alto Charter School, 1286 Runnymead St., East Palo Alto. The project -- to expand the organic garden to accommodate the middle school students' new salad bar garden -- is co-sponsored by the Junior League of Palo Alto - Mid-Peninsula. For information, contact Holly Taylor at (650) 704-9826 or holly@collectiveroots.org.

PLAN THE SHOW . . . The West Bay Iris Society will meet tonight at 7:30 p.m. to plan next month's iris show and sale in Fremont. The group meets in the Garden House of Shoup Park, 400 University Ave., Los Altos. For information, call Mike Abrams at (650) 947-0100.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE . . . to start your spring organic garden. Jody Main will teach a class tomorrow from 10:30 to noon at Common Ground, 559 College Ave., Palo Alto. Main, who has managed organic gardens for schools, Flea Street Café, Rosalind Creasy and private residences, will cover how to start an organic garden, a salad garden and a soup garden, with yummies, such as carrots, lettuce, snap peas, cilantro and arugula. Cost is $17. For information, call (650) 493-6072 or visit www.commongroundinpaloalto.org

ALL ABOUT TREES . . . The new Web site for Canopy: Trees for Palo Alto, a nonprofit devoted to stewarding Palo Alto's trees, is now up and running at www.canopy.org. The site offers a Tree Library, with information on more than 170 tree species, answers to frequently asked questions, an explanation of Palo Alto's Heritage Tree Ordinance, information on choosing an arborist for homeowners, as well as information on a dozen Tree Walks, self-guided tours through Palo Alto neighborhoods. For more information, call (650) 964-6110.

ABCs OF WATERING . . . Gamble Garden will offer a class on "Basic Irrigation for the Beginner" tomorrow from 9 to 11 a.m. at 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto. Fee is $20 for members, $25 for non-members. For information, call (650) 329-1356.

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