RA Board Approves New Recreational Pickleball and Gardening Classes

Are you a fan of pickleball? The Reston Association hopes you are, because they just approved the addition of new pickleball clinics to be added to local recreational offerings soon.

The new pickleball program, as well as a new gardening program, were approved at Thursday night’s RA board meeting.

Beginning and advance pickleball clinics will be offered in the near future alongside the usual tennis programs at the Colts Neck recreation area. Each clinic would be able to accommodate between 3 and 8 people, and would cost $36.50 for Reston residents and $38 for nonresidents.

The classes aim to “teach the fundamentals of pickleball, including game rules, scoring and basic strategies to give you all the tools you need to play,” according to the RA proposal documents.

A new gardening program was also approved, to feature classes taught by a Master Gardener. The classes will offer instruction and tips for gardening, utilizing Reston’s existing community garden plots.

Tips from the Master Gardener will also aim to help people interested in growing their own gardens. Students will learn how to determine what kind of garden their land is best suited to, the best placement for it, how to choose the best soil, and what to plant, as well as where to plant it. Help for everything from new plants to transplants will be given, in fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers and more, including how to deal with pests.

Instruction in basic plant knowledge will be given, including the different parts of plants, how they bear fruit, and why “composting is a gardener’s best friend.”

According to the proposal, the classes will be able to accommodate between 5 and 12 people per class, and will cost $40 for Reston residents, or $45 for nonresidents.

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