Trying to be "green" in your home and garden isn't easy. It's hard to know which way to turn when there are so many products claiming to be good for the environment. At this year's Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show, you'll have to navigate a real maze filled with important information about environmental stewardship. But don't worry: It's designed to lead you down the right path -- in more ways than one.

A-Maze-In-Green is not like any maze you've ever been through. Visitors to the first floor's garden pavilion will discover a 3,000-square-foot area filled with nearly 40 exhibits from a wide range of green organizations, including the Green Building Alliance, Audubon Society, Grow Pittsburgh and Friends of the Riverfront.

This year's project is the brainchild of Gary Baranowski, director of the horticulture technology program at Bidwell Training Center, and his students. The training center is part of the Manchester Bidwell Corp., which offers adults a six-month, intensive program geared to landing them jobs in the green industry. Students then spend another month in the real world on an externship.

This is the fourth year that students from Bidwell will be working with the Post-Gazette to create a space for the show.

"We've been on a mission the past few years to bring more garden into the home and garden show," Mr. Baranowski said.

And with the explosion in green technology in the marketplace, this year's space will be the perfect fit for the show.

"It's a really good bridge between home and garden," he says.

The maze is filled with educational exhibits and interactive displays from organizations that have partnered with Bidwell. Each one is related to the theme of celebrating Pittsburgh's green spaces, great places and 250th anniversary. Some displays will show how those spaces have changed in 250 years. Plants installed in the maze include lots of annual flowers, orchids, vegetables, perennials and even succulents.

Inside the maze, visitors can sign up for classes, attend workshops, join green organizations and learn about green roof technology, green building techniques, biofuels, ornamental horticulture, urban forestry and more.

Upon exiting, they'll find a marketplace where seeds, orchids, native plants, roses and other products will be for sale. A stage at the back of the pavilion will be for gardening demonstrations by Bidwell students and others.

To prepare for the exhibit, students from Bidwell's horticulture program have spent months growing out thousands of plants and designing exhibits, including one that shows how to create a green roof. The plants include herbs, annual flowers, orchids, succulents, vegetables and more.

Mr. Baranowski said the project exposes students to the wide array of opportunities in the green industry.

"If they can experience it, if they feel it, touch it, it makes that learning process so much more enjoyable," he said.

He's also hoping the exhibit will increase visitors' awareness of environmental issues.

"It really comes down to having a greater appreciation for our environment."