In 2013, the Waste Minimisation category was renamed Sustainable Waste and Resource Management (SWRM) in order to encourage more efficient use of all resources in the community, not just waste itself.
In 2014, total available marks for the SWRM category were increased from 20 to 50 marks. The reasons for this were:
To reflect the importance of this area in relation to the SuperValu TidyTowns competition
To bring the available marks in line with other competition categories
To reflect the time and effort being spent by many TidyTowns groups in relation to this category.
Blue Planet 11
A message from David Attenborough
Compost
Learn how to Compost
Ballylongford Tidy Towns uses compost from our compost heap and seaweed from Carrig Island, Ballylongford, Co.Kerry when planting our flower beds.
Compost adds nutrients to the soil. Compost contains a variety of the basic nutrients that plants require for healthy growth. In addition to the main three; nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, of special importance are the micronutrients found in compost such as manganese, copper, iron, and zinc. Micronutrients are only needed in small doses, like vitamins in our diet, but they play an important role in the plant’s ability to extract nutrients from other foods.
Seaweed
Seaweeds are sea plants – plants that grown in the sea. The nutrients / vitamins / trace elements are more readily available (digested) in seaweeds / sea plants than they are in land plants. Seaweed contains vitamins A and C, and is also a source of calcium.
Household Recycling List
Garden tip
Rose bushes like most plants must be trimmed when there is no danger of frost.
Start at the end of February up to mid March, before the apparition of new shoots, or at worst, when the new shoots appear at the extremities.
The purpose of trimming is to get rid of the oldest branches as they bloom less (or not at all anymore) and this way, it motivates the bush to form new branches from its roots. Trim one to three old branches located at the centre of the bush and which have a dark colour. Cut neatly and remove the dead wood as well as sick looking weak branches.
Shorten the main rosebush branches by one third in length.
It’s also time to trim honeysuckles. Starting feeding your garden bushes.
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Planting May 2018
Due to the bad weather we only started planted our flowers in late May.We kept our begonias over the winter, dried them out, wrapped them in brown paper and put them in a press for the winter. We started planting them in April due to the bad weather and kept them in the tunnel, on frosty night covered them with fleece. A lot of them are growing but we have some more to grow as the weather gets warm and put them outside. We also kept the geraniums in the tunnel during the winter.
Ballylongford Tidy Towns 