Enjoy the fun of gardening at city park
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    City dwellers always have hectic days. Now they have the chance to experience the fun of gardening in a city park and bring home vegetables and flowers that are freshly cut without travelling a long way to the countryside.

     People have a chance to become a city gardener and improve their horticultural skills by enrolling between November 14 and 18 for the first gardening course in Yau Tsim Mong District under the Community Garden Programme.

     The new course will start on December 18 in King's Park Recreation Ground (near Queen Elizabeth Hospital on King's Park Road, Yau Ma Tei) where participants can learn how to grow plants, fruit and vegetables under expert guidance and then take home the harvest.

     Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Community Garden Programme encourages people to participate in greening activities at the community level through which they can increase their awareness of greening and environmental protection.

     The gardening course in Yau Tsim Mong District, with a maximum of 20 participants, will be conducted in Cantonese. Each successful applicant will be allocated a plot of 2.25 square metres on which to practise gardening.

     Each course lasts four months. The fee for each course is $400. Successful applicants can bring along four friends or relatives, who do not have to pay the course fee.

     Participants may choose the mode of participation that suits them best. They can take care of their plants from 8am to 6pm daily, or restrict their activities to holidays and weekends, leaving the garden keepers to look after the regular watering of plants. Gardening course conducted by an instructor will be held on Sundays from 2:30pm to 5:30pm.

     Application forms are available at the Yau Tsim Mong District Leisure Services Office, Shroff Office, Kowloon Park Arcade, 22 Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, and also at King's Park Recreation Ground, Kowloon Park Sports Centre, Fa Yuen Street Sports Centre, Kwun Chung Sports Centre and Boundary Street Sports Centre.

     Completed forms should be submitted in person or by post to the above-mentioned venues between November 14 and 18. If the number of applicants exceeds the course's quota, places will be allocated by ballot.

     For enquiries, please call 2302 1762.

Ends/Thursday, November 3, 2005
Issued at HKT 16:39

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