The Williamson County Master Gardeners will host a series of free gardening classes starting on May 9 at the Mason Homestead in Leander.

Classes will take place on the second Thursday of each month at the same time and location. Members of the Williamson County Master Gardeners group will take turns teaching each class based on their own specializations.

The topic of the initial session is "Firewise Landscaping: How to Keep Your Home as Safe as Possible." Stephen Bosak, director of the Leander Parks and Recreation Department, said the class addresses ways to plan, establish and maintain home gardens in a way that minimizes the risk of fires.

During the class, attendees will have the chance to vote on topics they would like to learn about in the future. Volunteer master gardener Joy Mitchell said possible topics include native and adaptive drought-reducing plants, antique roses, how to plant garden beds and fall gardening.

The Williamson County Master Gardeners is a group of volunteers who work with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to promote and teach gardening skills to residents in the community. Through weekly classes from August to November taught by the Texas A&M AgriLife Center, volunteers can become certified to be a master gardener member. They also must fulfill a volunteer hour requirement.

The master gardeners also host monthly meetings open to the public in Georgetown on the second Monday of each month and discuss different gardening topics and plan community projects.

"We get to give back to our communities and do projects that will beautify our hometown," Mitchell said.