Garden Resources
Great Plant Picks
This is an invaluable tool in selecting plants for your garden in the Pacific Northwest.
You can choose plants within your needed criteria or choose lists for many different
aspects of your garden. All plants are shown using high quality photographs and
detailed information about cultivation and outstanding attributes of each plant.
Website: www.greatplantpicks.org
VanDusen Botanical Gardens
Vandusen offers many garden related events and courses and has a beautiful botanical
garden to visit. They also offer a garden help line which answers any questions you
may have.
Address: 5251 Oak St, Vancouver, BC V6M 4H1
Help line (Mon, Wed, Thur 1pm-3pm) 604 878-9274
UBC Botanical Garden
UBC botanical garden is a vast botanical garden with plant life from local rain forests,
Asia and global alpine regions.
Located at 6804 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Phone 604 822-4208
Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden
Since 1990, the City of Vancouver and City Farmer Society have been working
together at the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden, to teach Vancouver
residents how they can ‘go green’ at home. Composting is part of a larger City
strategy named ‘Grow Natural’, which shows the public how to “save time, money
and the environment by using natural yard care techniques.” The Vancouver
Compost Garden works in cooperation with a variety of City Departments
(Solid Waste, Water Design, Parks, Health, Streets, Green Streets) to inform the
public about these strategies, which include back yard and worm composting,
water conservation (rain barrels, drip irrigation, permeable surfaces) safe pest
control and natural lawn care.
Address: 2150 Maple St. Vancouver, BC Telephone: 604 736-2250
Pacific Soil Analysis
How healthy is your soil? This laboratory will test residential gardener's soil samples.
Call first to receive instructions on how to best obtain samples and for current cost
of the analysis. They will provide a comprehensive detailed analysis of the soil samples
and give recommendations. The fertility levels can be kept appropriate through soil
analysis.
Address: 11720 Voyageur Way 5, Richmond, BC V6X 3G9 Telephone: 604 273-8226
Collection depots for leftover hazardous wastes
In British Columbia, ReGeneration operates more than 170 collection sites across the
province where consumers may return leftover paint including 57 sites where consumers
can also dispose of flammables, gasoline and pesticides. The website allows you to
select the product you would like to recycle and your location to show the nearest
recycling depot to drop off your products. There is no charge to drop-off leftovers that
are accepted by the program.
Toll-free: 1.888.772.9772 Hours: Monday – Friday 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (PST)
BC Poison Control Centres:
There are many poisonous plants. It is always best know the plant names in
your home and yard. Plants are one of the most common poisoning in children.
The poison control centre has a searchable data base with fact sheets about
each plant showing the toxicity, health effects and what to do.
BC Poison Control Centre steps for what to do for a plant poisoning:
Invasive Plant Council of BC
Invasive plants are non-native plants that cause environmental, human or
economic harm. They have been introduced into our ecosystem without
natural enemies to keep them in check. The giant hogweed shown in the
picture on the right is a good example of an invasive species. It looks pretty
however it has destabilized ecosystems, contributed to erosion and created
painful rashes for anyone who brushes against it.
1-888-WEEDSBC
West Coast Seeds
This company provides seeds for organic growing. They have a wealth of information
on their website including planting charts, how to grow vegetables and flowers from seed and now they have a winter gardening guide.
Address: 4930 Elliott St, Delta, BC V4K 2Y1 Phone:(604) 952-8820 Website: www.westcoastseeds.com
