A number of Master Gardener programs in California provide content to local newspapers on current, local gardening issues. This time of year, with summer winding down and the fall planting season looming ahead, the Master Garderners' advice is particularly helpful.
Today's Visalia Times-Delta includes a column from UCCE Master Gardener coordinator Michele LeStrange about creating a fire-safe zone around one's countryside or foothill home.
"The home-defense zone is within 30 feet of the house. The property-reduced fuel zone lies 30 to 100 feet from the house. Larger zones are needed when your home is on a steep slope or in a windswept exposure," according to the story.
Master Gardener Kathy Stoner wrote a column for today's St. Helena Star about water conservation.
"In California, we use more water on our landscapes than we do for showers, laundry and all other uses combined. A homeowner who wants to use water more responsibly can employ myriad techniques and strategies and still have a pleasant and colorful garden," she wrote, before giving a series of water conservation suggestions.
Writer Julie Eich plugs the Master Gardeners in her story on insects for mymotherlode.com.
"We gardeners are by nature control freaks, determined to impose our will on our gardens," Eich writes. "We're always messing around; rarely content to leave nature alone, we scurry here and there, staking, weeding, spraying, watering, fertilizing."
She tells readers, "If you need help identifying the problem or the treatment, call the Master Gardener office at 209-533-9696 or visit University of California's Pest Notes: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edumegarden.html."
Joan Swenson writes in a column for the Bakersfield Californian about new Master Gardener classes to be offered in Kern County.
"The instructor is John Karlik, who will cover the science and culture of landscape and garden plants. The classes were formerly offered through Bakersfield College, but now are taught as an educational outreach for the extension service," the story says.
