HOME & GARDEN EVENTS

The art of propagating new plants from grafts or buds will be covered at a

workshop today at the Rincon Valley Library.

''All methods of joining plants are types of grafting,'' said Al Derrick,

the master gardener who will lead the workshop. ''When the scion is simply a

piece of bark or wood containing a single bud, the propagation operation is

called budding.''

Derrick will bring a selection of tools and discuss their relative

usefulness. Free. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 6959 Montecito Blvd., Santa Rosa.

565-2608.

With rainfall low and reservoirs depleted, more and more homeowners are

rethinking their lawns.

Sonoma County Master Gardner Sandy Metzger will lead a free talk, ''To Lawn

or Not to Lawn,'' on Feb. 7 at the Windsor Regional Library.

The workshop will include practical advice on how to use less water on

lawns, reduce the size of a lawn or get rid of it altogether. Metzger will

also show examples of drought-resistant ground covers and native plants for

borders and yards.

The talk will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 9292 Old Redwood Highway,

Building 100, Windsor. 565-2605, sonomamastergardeners.org.

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BUSINESS AND HOME SHOW IN WINDSOR

The Windsor Chamber of Commerce will showcase local businesses, including

many that cater to gardening, cleaning, hardware and other services for the

home, during its annual Business Expo and Home Show on Tuesday.

The Expo offers food, wine and money-saving offers, said the chamber's

Christine Trevini. Free. 5 to 8 p.m. at the Mary Agatha Furth Center, 8400 Old

Redwood Highway, Windsor. 838-7285 or visitwindsorchamber.com.

PRUNING, ROSE CARE WORKSHOPS OFFERED

If you've been procrastinating, it's still not too late to prune.

Hector Bedolla, vineyard manager for Kendall Jackson Winery, will show how

to effectively prune everything from fruit trees and ornamentals to shrubs and

vines at a free Sonoma County Master Gardener workshop Feb. 7.

Bedolla serves on the boards of the California Association of Wine Grape

Growers and the Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association. The two-hour

workshop will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Healdsburg Library, 139 Piper St.,

Healdsburg.

For rose lovers, Dr. Wylie Hartman will discuss the selection, care and

pruning of roses at a separate master gardener workshop, also on Feb. 7.

Hartman tends 125 rose bushes in his own Sonoma garden. He will talk about

which varieties perform best in this climate and what fertilizers, dormant

sprays and mulches are most effective, in addition to demonstrating how to

prune roses for larger and healthier blooms.

Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Sonoma Library, 755 W. Napa St.,

Sonoma. For information on both workshops, check out 565-2608 or

sonomamastergardeners.org.

HARMONY GIVES TIPS ON FRUIT, NUT TREES

Fruit and nut trees are perfect landscape trees, offering food, shade,

structure and, frequently, spring blossoms to the garden.

Harmony Farm Supply in Sebastopol offers a free workshop from 10 a.m. to

noon today with tips on what to plant, what works and what doesn't work and

methods to improve your fruit and nut production. 3244 Gravenstein Highway N.,

Sebastopol. 823-9125, harmonyfarm.com.

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You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 521-5204

or meg.mcconahey@ pressdemocrat.com.