Gardening has been dubbed the most popular outdoor recreational activity in the United States. My guess is that if the survey that determined this had ranked gardening's popularity by area, Utah would be somewhere at the top of the list. It is interesting that our area with its problem soils and challenging climatic conditions fosters so much interest in gardening.

Nevertheless, people around here are anxious to make their yards look beautiful and they often find that it is easier said than done.

Most would like to get answers to their concerns. Some carry such an avid interest that they decide to go all-out to conquer by taking the Utah State University Extension course to become Master Gardeners.

This is no small feat. To become a Master Gardener, they must attend a two-hour class once a week for 20 weeks -- spread over two years. They choose several labs for more hands-on learning from those offered nearly each month that they are not meeting in the classroom. In addition, they volunteer 40 hours of community service in gardening to complete the requirements to become a bonafide Master Gardener. By the time they finish all of that, they know something about successful gardening.

Many continue on as members of the Tooele County Master Gardener organization where they can meet with others who share their fascination to exchange tips, ideas, plants and so forth. Thus, they continue learning. Such is their enthusiasm.

And then there are the passionate gardeners. These folks just have to know more. They take it more than a step further by enrolling in the USU Extension's Advanced Master Gardener program. This program is an intensive four-year course and they sign up for it one year at a time. Each year focuses in more depth on various aspects of gardening. A year each is devoted to "Fruits, Vegetables and Turfgrass," "Woody Plants," "Landscape Design," and "Herbaceous Plants (annual and perennial flowers)."

These classes further increase horticultural skills. Each class involves a two-hour class weekly for 12 weeks with the same lab and volunteer hour requirements as the Master Gardeners. Advanced Master Gardeners are passionate about plants and when they finish this class, they really do know something about gardening and landscape care.

Through the Master Gardener training, some have had their interest so piqued that they get hooked. Some have gone on to the University to earn a formal degree in horticulture -- and many return to the Advanced Master Gardener Classes after their degree.

These common interests in everything horticultural, creates a diverse array of avenues for horticultural expression. The Master Gardeners and Advanced Master Gardeners express their expertise by setting up and running home greenhouses, making garden decorations and implements, creating fascinating landscapes, nurturing healthy turf, doing commercial landscaping, running nurseries and helping neighbors with their garden concerns.

Because of that "helping neighbors" attitude, the Tooele County Master Gardeners will present their Spring Expo for the next two weekends to share the expertise of some Advanced Master Gardeners with the public. In keeping with their plan to bring the knowledge to you, the event will "hit the road" providing an expo in Tooele this Saturday, April 12, and a similar one in Grantsville next Saturday, April 19. In that same neighborly tradition, the only charge will be $5 to defray printing costs for handouts.

The two events will be similar but not identical. It would be worth your time to go both weekends to get more of what is offered.

This Saturday's Tooele Expo will begin with registration at 9:30 a.m. at the USU Extension Auditorium, 151 N. Main and between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., it will include classes on putting color in the garden, lawn care, selecting and using garden equipment, growing tomatoes, troubleshooting in the garden, and vegetable gardening. You can choose from two classes each hour. At 1 p.m., a special guest speaker, Kristofer Sagers, formerly from Tooele County and currently employed at the Jordan River Conservation Park, will share his expertise on water wise plants and water conservation.

The Grantsville Spring Garden Expo on April 12 will also begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Grantsville City Hall, 429 E. Main St. Classes will run individually for 30 minutes each and will include lawn care, selecting and using garden equipment, growing tomatoes, troubleshooting in the garden, vegetable gardening and gardening in Grantsville.

Bring all of your gardening questions and concerns to get the answers you need.

If you have more questions about either expo, contact the Tooele County Extension office at 277-2400. Contact Gary Fawson at 884-1936 about the Grantsville Expo or Joyce Tate at 882-1573 about the Tooele Expo.