The Pike County Master Gardeners will host Christmas Open House from 5 until 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Pike County Extension office.

The community is invited to come and see what the Master Gardeners offer and also what the Extension office has to offer.

“Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions and also offer tips on various garden topics,” said Leigh Calk, Pike County Master Gardeners president.

“The Master Gardeners offer so much more than what the community may realize,” Calk said. “We want to be visible in the community because we are trained volunteers and we are here to help.”

Each of the master gardeners is required to complete volunteer hours yearly, and the group also meets monthly to discuss upcoming events, projects, gardening news and meeting times.

The Pike County Extension office staff will be available to answer questions and provide information about the educational programs the Extension office has to offer.

“Like the Master Gardeners, there are many pieces to the Extension puzzle,” said Grant Lyons, Pike County Extension coordinator. “We offer such diverse programming with specialists in many areas. The Open House provides us the opportunity to let our citizens know about what Extension can do to help make their lives better in the communities in which they live.”

Lyons said that the purpose of the Master Gardener program is to increase the availability of horticultural information to Alabama and to improve the quality of life with community projects related to our mission.

Master Gardener classes are offered annually by Extension and more than 50 hours of instruction are provided through the classes. The topics covered include soil and plant nutrition, entomology, plant selection, lawn care, weed identification and control and more.

After completion of the class, Master Gardeners are each required to give 50 hours of volunteer service to Extension and their communities.

Most recently, the Pike County Master Gardeners have worked on projects at Troy Sportsplex, the Pike Pioneer Museum and the Extension office.

“We enjoy working on projects that help our community and, likewise, we enjoy helping our local community by offering expertise in the field of gardening,” Calk said.

Everyone who has an interest in horticulture is invited to the Open House. Refreshments will be served and door prizes will be given.

For more information on this event, contact the Pike County Extension office at 334-566-0985.