First, Navigate Your Way to the Composting Demonstration Area Using the Zilker Botanical

Welcome to your Zilker Botanical Garden Challenge!
ZBG's hours are 9:00 am – 6:00 pm, with last entry at 5:30pm
Admission, cash or check, is: $1 for children and seniors (ages 3-12 or over age 62)
$2 for adults, Austin resident (ages 13-61), $3 for adults, non-resident (ages 13-61)
Upon completion of this Challenge, please visit the Gift Shop for your prize!
Zilker Botanical Garden Station 1: COMPOSTING

First, navigate your way to the composting demonstration area using the Zilker Botanical Garden map (its number 1 on the map!) Then, answer these questions:

What is composting?

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Why compost?

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(hint: Compost is great for gardens!)

Who does the majority of the work?

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What do the soil organisms need?

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Source: Austin Resource Recovery

Zilker Botanical Garden Station 2: VEGETABLES

Visit the demonstration Vegetable Garden next to the compost demo area.

What might be in season right now? ______
Can you find these in the Vegetable Garden? ______

Source: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Zilker Botanical Garden Station 3: WILDLIFE HABITAT
How Do You Create a Wildlife-Friendly Garden?

Provide Food for Wildlife

Everyone needs to eat! Planting native forbs, shrubs and trees is the easiest way to provide the foliage, nectar, pollen, berries, seeds and nuts that many species of wildlife require to survive and thrive. You can also incorporate supplemental feeders and food sources.

Supply Water for Wildlife

Wildlife need clean water sources for many purposes, including drinking, bathing and reproduction. Water sources may include natural features such as ponds, lakes, rivers, springs, oceans and wetlands; or human-made features such as bird baths, puddling areas for butterflies, installed ponds or rain gardens.

Create Cover for Wildlife

Wildlife require places to hide in order to feel safe from people, predators and inclement weather. Use things like native vegetation, shrubs, thickets and brush piles or even dead trees.

Give Wildlife a Place to Raise Their Young

Wildlife need a sheltered place to raise their offspring. Many places for cover can double as locations where wildlife can raise young, from wildflower meadows and bushes where many butterflies and moths lay their eggs, or caves where bats roost and form colonies.

How is this garden creating wildlife habitat?

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Does it provide food, supply water, create cover, and give wildlife a place to raise their young? ___ Draw a picture of a food source for insects on the back.

Source: National Wildlife Federation
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