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Index : Miscellaneous Gardening Topics
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- 52. Master Gardeners Offer Gardening Assistance - Top
- You don't have to be an expert gardener to become a Master Gardener. All it takes is a desire to learn, and to help others become better gardeners.
Master Gardeners work as volunteers with Cooperative Extension throughout the country. Here in Arizona, the Cooperative Extension and the Master Gardener program is part of the University of Arizona. In other states, the program is part of the Land Grant University of each state.
There are currently 100 active Master Gardener volunteers here in Pima County. A majority of that group work out of the Cooperative Extension Center in Tucson with the balance working in our satellite office in Sahuarita.
One of the main functions of Pima County Master Gardeners is to staff plant clinics in both Tucson and Sahuarita. Master Gardeners are available to answer landscape and gardening questions over the phone or examine plant samples brought into the clinics. Identifying plants and insects, recommending landscape and garden plant varieties, providing planting and care instructions, and diagnosing plant problems are but a few of the services provided. Each year over 12,000 area residents utilize the services of our Master Gardener plant clinics.
Master Gardeners also present landscape and gardening programs. In Tucson, these presentations are held each Wednesday afternoon from September through June at the Wilmot Library. In Green Valley, gardening programs are given each Tuesday morning from September through May at the Green Valley Baptist Church.
Persons qualify to become Master Gardeners by completing a 50 hour training course. Instruction is given in a wide variety of topics including: basic plant science, desert soils, entomology, plant pathology, diagnosing plant problems, landscape plants, vegetables, herbs, fruits, wildlife management, and water conservation. Upon course completion, participants then serve as Master Gardener Interns under the supervision of qualified Master Gardeners. With completion of 50 hours of volunteer service, interns are then certified as Master Gardeners.
To maintain Master Gardener status, a volunteer must participate in 50 hours of service activities and complete 10 hours of continuing education annually.
One of the most popular service activities is working in the Extension Demonstration Gardens. Volunteers can choose to work in one of a number of gardens including: cacti and succulents, vegetables, herbs, flowers, roses, and landscape plants. Greenhouse operations and plant propagation are other activities to choose from. Master Gardeners are responsible for developing garden plans, selecting plants, planting, and maintenance of all demonstration gardens. They also plan and present programs to the public, centered around their demonstration garden activities.
Youth education is another important component of the Master Gardener program. Master Gardeners may choose to participate in conducting a summer school gardening program for children in grades 4 though 8. They may also choose to work on school gardening education programs.
For an application and more information contact the Pima County Cooperative Extension Office by phoning 626-5161 or in south Pima County by contacting the Extension Satellite Office at 648-0808.
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Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Daily Star gardening column, on June 28, 1999
- Updated: April 20, 2001
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