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City offers free wood chipping service

Seattle homeowners can find a hidden treasure by collecting wood debris in their yards and converting it to water-saving mulch, free-of-charge. Seattle Public Utilities recently launched a free pilot program to recycle wood debris into wood chips for residents.

Through Dec. 31 of next year, Seattle neighborhoods can sign up to have the "Chip and Mulch Tour" stop in their area. SPU provides the wood chipper and an operator - residents provide the wood debris. The chipper converts the branches and other debris into wood chips that can be used as mulch for gardens.

The service is available to groups of at least four Seattle homeowners who can provide a space large enough to accommodate a chipper truck and the chips left behind (approximately 200 square feet).

"Wood chips will help homeowners protect their gardens," said Diana Gale, SPU managing director. "Spreading wood chips on soil helps retain moisture and reduce the amount of watering needed to maintain trees, shrubs and perennial beds, and it also controls weeds."

The mulch created by wood chips allows rain and irrigation water to sink down fast instead of running off and the water can't easily evaporate. The soil stays moister, longer.

Most chipping events will be scheduled on Saturdays. A limited number will be held on Sundays. One hundred chipping events will be held through December 2002.

Interested homeowners can contact SPU's Natural Lawn and Garden hotline at 633-0224 to participate in the program or to obtain fliers to invite their neighbors to a wood-chipping event. For further details regarding the Chip and Mulch Tour or for other water conservation information, call 684-SAVE or visit the Web site www.savingwater.org.

Remodelled Home Tour to be held Oct 20 and 21

The Master Builders Association will hold its annual tour of Remodeled Homes at the end of October on Saturday and Sunday, October 20 and 21 from 10 am to 5 pm.

The tour features about two dozen homes in all, seven of which are in North Seattle which were remodelled by Chermak Construction, Coastline Construction, Conner Remodeling, Gaspar Construction, JA Ratto, JB Design, and Johnson Brothers Construction.

The remaining homes are located in surrounding areas of Bellevue, Redmond, Mercer Island, Issaquah, and more.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at each site. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Seattle AIDS Support Group. Last year, $5000 was raised for this cause.

An ideal location to start the tour is in Green Lake at 6002 Latona Ave NE, a home remodelled by local builder Coastline Construction. The cost of viewing this home alone is $2. For more information, contact Coastline at 522-2139. (