MARIPOSA – To get the best out of your fruit trees, you need to give them the best care with the right tools at the right time of the year. That right time is now.
Mariposa Master Gardeners present a free workshop on pruning presented by Emeritus Fruit, & Nut Advisor Maxwell Norton on Saturday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m. to noon at Catheys Valley.
Norton will show you how to prune your trees for your convenience, the tree’s maximum health, its best support structure and bearing capability.
In recent years, home fruit growers have discovered that their trees can be pruned to a height that they can reach; it means no more ladders, no more fruit you can’t reach. While it’s easier to keep trees from getting too tall in the first place, Norton will show how to gradually bring mature trees down to a height that is best for the grower.
Norton will share where to make cuts for best harvest as well as correct tools, care of those tools and how important it is to keep your tools clean.
Participants are asked to register at the website, http://cemariposa.ucanr.edu or call (209) 966-2417 to receive handouts and be notified of any last minute changes. This workshop will be an outside experience, so dress accordingly.
Throughout the year, Master Gardeners present many free workshops for the home gardener. Topics to be covered in 2017 include drip irrigation and water management, vermiculture, composting and sheet mulching, propagation and firescaping, and what to plant in a changing forest.
The Master Gardener program is overseen by the University of California. Volunteers give UC-researched answers to home gardeners’ questions, conduct an annual garden tour and plant sales. For more about Master Gardeners, go to http://cemariposa.ucanr.edu/Master_Gardener.
The Mariposa Master Gardeners maintain a native plant demonstration garden along Mariposa Creek on Stroming Road between 8th and 6th streets in Mariposa and another garden beside the old firehouse in Coulterville at the corner of Highway 132 and Highway 49 North.
For questions please contact Jaime Collins – colllins15j@gmail.com – 480.231.3988
