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Chicken Coop Tour, July 13

Seattle Tilth, located at 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. in Wallingford, will present its 4th annual Chicken Coop Tour on Saturday, July 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For a $5 fee, participants can purchase a map of approximately 24 backyard chicken coops in Seattle and visit them on a self-guided tour. For details, call 633-0451. SPU to go 'blue'

Seattle Public Utilities is taking their "Go Blue! to Recycle" program to local festivals this summer.

The project provides eye-catching blue recycling bins for fairs, including the University District Street Fair, the Fremont Fair and the Lake City Summer Festival. So far, nearly 10 tons of plastic, paper and glass have been collected.

For more information about "Go Blue! to Recycle," call 615-1376, or visit www.cityofseattle.net/util/.

Groundcover class, July 22

On Monday, July 22, from 7-8:30 p.m., the Center of Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington will host a class titled "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Groundcovers."

The class will be taught by Barbara Selemon, plant propagator for the Center, and will explore ways to maintain groundcovers in the landscape and keep weeds out.

The class costs $25 for the general public ($22 for Arboretum Foundation members.)

The Center for Urban Horticulture is located at 3501 NE 41st St. For details, call 685-8033.

Merrill Hall rebuild on track

The Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington has announced that it will rebuild Merrill Hall, hopefully completing it by May 2004 - three years after the building was destroyed in a fire set by the Earth Liberation Front.

The ground-breaking is currently planned for May of 2003, the two-year anniversary of the fire.

The Center is still raising funds for the project which will include a visitor's lobby, expanded information desk, a Master Gardener Diagnostic Clinic and new entrance to the Miller Library and Hyde Herbarium.

For details, call Tom Hinckley, director of the Center, at 543-1588.