If you haven't started a compost pile, do it now. Having a back-yard composter keeps garden debris and kitchen scraps out of landfills. It's also a great way to improve your soil. Just sprinkle a bit of completed compost around perennials, shrubs and trees or work it into vegetable beds before planting. Pick up a ready-made composter at a garden center or big-box home improvement store or build your own (for instructions, go to www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/dg5553.html).

CONNIE NELSON

The Twin Cities is rich in public gardens, from the urban Lyndale Peace Garden in Minneapolis to the 1,300 acres of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. Spend Friday, which just happens to be National Public Gardens Day, visiting one of these soul-stirring settings and basking in the spring blossoms. To celebrate the event, the arboretum is offering two free admissions that day. Go to the Better Homes and Gardens magazine website at www.bhg.com/freegarden to download the admission voucher. And while you're at the arboretum, contribute to a mural-in-progress from 10 to 11 a.m.

The arboretum is also holding Mother's Day brunches at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. May 7 and 8. Tickets are $9 to $22. Visit www.umnarboretum.catertrax.com or call 952-443-1400.

Get inspired by the rain gardens in Michael and Michele Tibodeau's Maplewood yard. The couple, who won an Extreme Green Makeover, will give visitors a tour of their newly landscaped yard, which is designed to harvest rainwater and uses many native plants to reduce the need for water, fertilizers and pesticides. The Open House is from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at 2211 N. Ariel St., Maplewood. Free. Call 651-249-2170 to register.

Barbara Pierson, nursery manager for White Flower Farm, a garden catalog, will offer tips on growing annuals, vegetables and herbs in pots. She'll also talk about container design and the best varieties to plant in containers. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, 2705 Lincoln Dr., Roseville. Tickets are $15 for members and $25 for nonmembers. Go to www.northerngardener.org or call 651-643-3601.

LYNN UNDERWOOD