Master gardener course to be offered beginning Jan. 31

The MSU/Flathead County Extension Office is offering a nine-week master gardener course in Kalispell beginning Jan. 31.

The course will focus on topics such as botany, composting, using plants adapted to the Flathead Valley, insect identification, integrated pest management, tree selection and maintenance, soil structure and fertility, and weed identification and management.

The course will be taught by MSU Extension specialists Bob Gough, Will Lanier and Peter Kolb.

Local instructors include John Halpop, MSU/Sanders County extension agent; Bob Balding and Paula Craft, Plant Land Garden Center; Michael Connolly, Hooper's Garden Center; Angel Rosario and Cal Sibley, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Jed Fisher, Flathead County Weed District; and Justin Morris, MSU/Flathead County extension agent.

The course will be held every Monday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Flathead High School from Jan. 31 through April 4, although there will be no class on March 21.

Each participant will receive a copy of Gough's "Montana Master Gardener Handbook." The cost of the course is $75. Enrollment will be limited to 40 participants.

Call the Flathead County Extension office at 758-5553 to register.