Got plastic pots? Recycle 'em Gardening is green, but garden waste is not. Horticultural plastic pots take up a lot of space in landfills and don't readily decompose. But they can be recycled. Just gather up all those unwanted pots, cell-pack trays and hanging baskets you've accumulated, and bring them to a participating garden center for recycling.

The Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association has brought back its popular recycling program this season, now through Nov. 1. The plastic will be re-used after it is processed and distributed to manufacturers looking for recycled plastic.

Gardeners can drop off cleaned plastic garden pots, polystyrene cell pack trays and hanging baskets, with metal hangers removed. Only plastic pots, trays and baskets will be accepted; no clay pots or household plastic.

Some garden center drop sites will accept garden plastic all season, through Nov. 1. Participating Twin Cities metro-area centers include: Applewood Nursery & Landscape Supply (Forest Lake), Bloomingon Garden Center (Bloomington), Down in the Valley Nursery (Buffalo), Hermes Floral Garden Center (St. Paul), Linder's Garden Center (St. Paul), Lotus Lawn & Garden (Chanhassen), Malmborg's (Brooklyn Center and Maple Grove), Mickman Brothers (Ham Lake), Minnesota Green (Shakopee), Minnesota Valley Garden Center (Shakopee), Mom's Landscaping and Design (Shakopee), Mother Earth Gardens (Minneapolis), Otten Bros. Nursery and Landscaping (Long Lake), Peterson Produce (Delano), Prairie Restorations (Scandia and Princeton), the Mustard Seed (Chaska), Turtle Creek (Owatonna), Uncommon Gardens (Minneapolis) and Wagner Greenhouses (Minneapolis).

Other participating garden centers will accept plastic for recycling only on June 20-21 and Sept. 19-20. For a complete list, visit www.garden minnesota.com.

KIM PALMER

Get those garden contest nominations in Got a great garden? Know of one? Well, we want to know about it, too.

Every year, we sponsor our Beautiful Gardens contest as a way to discover some of the great private gardens in the Twin Cities. The contest is your chance to tell us about your favorites. Winners will be featured in a cover story in this section and online. The competition is fierce, so get your nominations in early.

How to nominate? Send a letter describing the garden and the people who tend it. Dig up some snapshots of the garden in its glory or take some fresh photos this spring. Please include the gardener's name, address and phone number as well as your own. And if you have a great garden, don't hesitate to nominate yourself. The deadline for nominations is June 19.

Mail them to: Beautiful Gardens Contest, Home+Garden, Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488. Electronic submissions can be sent to cnelson@startribune.com.

CONNIE NELSON