Just, what is a Master Gardener?

Well, for starters, a Master Gardener is not someone who has all the answers to gardening problems. Nor is a Master Gardener an expert horticulturalist.

Master Gardeners are volunteer educators who have been trained by Land Grant Agriculture Universities to assist in providing information about home gardening. Mississippi State University Extension Service is the branch of M.S.U. that offers the Master Gardener program in the state and is responsible for training and coordinating Master Gardeners. Master Gardeners receive 40 hours of instruction in the basics of home gardening. Topics of study include soil, botany, entomology, plant pathology, pest control and plant propagation. Specific gardening “crops” studied are turf grass, fruits, vegetables and ornamentals such as flowers, shrubs and ground cover plants.

New Master Gardeners agree to provide a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer educational efforts within the first year after training. After that, Master Gardeners work a minimum of 20 hours annually to maintain their status as a Master Gardener. The average tenure of a Master Gardener volunteer in Mississippi is four years.

Currently there are 28 Master Gardeners in Warren County. Statewide, there are about 1200 Master Gardeners in 40 participating counties. In 2002, these volunteers donated over 38,000 hours of planning and delivery of educational programs.