The Gift of Master Gardeners

This time of year, many of us are shopping for new plants for our gardens, planting our vegetable gardens, or cleaning out diseased trees or bushes. We are fortunate to have tremendous resources to support our beautiful gardens through the University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener volunteer program started in 1977 with its first class of 25 people. Since then it has grown to include more than 2,700 active master gardeners who share U of M horticultural expertise in almost every county of Minnesota. If you are not a part of the program, you probably know someone who is. SCA has four master gardeners on its editorial board! Additionally, the University of Minnesota provides extensive resources for information including: Lawn care, watering wisely, not to mention answering questions about “what’s wrong with my plant”. All of the links are provided for deeper research. A new video series shines a light on the knowledge shared via the MG program. The series is available to the public. Visit the page https://z.umn.edu/MG-action and scroll down to see them all. Here is a sampling of topics covered in the series:

• Connect with nature | Healing garden in Ramsey County
• Kids explore with hands-on activities | Children’s garden in Renville County
• Neighbors and pollinators | Growing pollinator gardens in Hennepin County
• Global connections | U of M Twin Cities campus Global Garden
• What’s it like to be a Master Gardener? | Hear from your neighbors

The Master Gardener program not only provides resources to our community, but they also provide community education, plant sales, and support to the environment around us. In case you can’t find an answer to a question, reach out to a Master Gardener either by submitting an email or calling and leaving a message. A Master Gardener will respond to you directly within 24 hours. You can learn more here. Source: University of Minnesota Master Gardener Program To learn more about becoming a Master Gardener contact the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Each year the program takes applications in the fall and those applications accepted begin the annual program each January.