Free master gardener workshops

Master Gardener Michael Janik will give the ins and outs of growing fruit trees in northern Nevada in two free presentations Feb. 5 and Feb. 6 in Reno and Sparks.

Training and Pruning Fruit Trees is 6:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Bartley Ranch, 6000 Bartley Ranch Road, Reno. Janik will discuss pruning, tree response to pruning, thinning fruit, pruning to restore older trees and training and maintaining fruit trees.

Selecting and Caring for Fruit Trees is 6:30 p.m., Feb. 6 at Lazy 5 Regional Park, 7100 Pyramid Lake Highway, Sparks. Janik will discuss selecting, planting and care of fruit trees in northern Nevada, including climate and soil effects, pest and disease management, pruning and yearly maintenance requirements for newly planted and established trees.

Janik is not only a master gardener but a certified arborist and grower of more than 100 varieties of apples, stone fruits, berries and small fruits in his 400 square-foot orchard. He specializes in grafting and growing espalier fruit trees, which are trained to grow flat against a trellis or lattice.

The workshops are part of the Gardening in Nevada series of free classes presented by master gardener volunteers of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension at 6:30 p.m., on Tuesdays in February and March at Bartley Ranch in Reno and on Feb. 6, 20 and 27 at Lazy 5 Regional Park in Sparks. Gardening in Nevada is sponsored by Washoe County Regional Parks & Open Space and the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.

For information, call University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, 784-4848 or ask a master gardener at mastergardeners@unce.unr.edu.