Sierra Pacific and Extension collaborated in a Yard Fitness Plan campaign that saved 17 percent more water in 1995 than in 1988, and that's with a 3 to 4 percent annual population growth. When volunteers sign up to be Master Gardeners, they take 50 hours of Extension horticulture training, then work 50 hours a year in the community. Some spend more than 100 hours spreading the good-gardening gospel. They teach homeowners efficient gardening through talks, demonstrations, phone calls, fact sheets, newspaper columns, television shows and radio spots. Martin and Betty McGreer, of Reno, put in 300 hours last year testing soil, working in the demonstration garden on Mill Street, recycling Christmas trees, and manning booths at fairs and home shows.
Horticulture is so broad today that experts are needed in many different aspects of the discipline.
Elinor Benes, a retired California State University zoology professor living in Carson City, teaches pruning but not lawn watering. If one person can't answer a question, there's always someone who can. The Master Gardener program received a certificate of recognition from the Carson City Area Chamber of Commerce in their 1997 awards program.