When Was The First Master Gardener Program Developed

Viola Purdy, Sandusky and Ottawa County Master Gardener Volunteer

The Master Gardener Program was initiated in 1972 and inaugurated in 1973 at Washington State by David Gibby, William Scheer, Sharon Collmen and George Pinyuh. The program has been in Ohio since 1986 and includes 62 of the 88 counties.

Washington State University Extension initially assigned horticulture faculty to county offices as part of the Agriculture, Home Economics and 4‐H outreach education programs. The emphasis of the horticultural programs was crop production. It was not until rapid urban growth and the burgeoning interest in gardening that Extension began to develop programs emphasizing urban horticulture.

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In 1971 David Gibby and Bill Scheer, area Extension agents, started separate assignments in the major metropolitan areas. They focused, respectively, on urban and commercial horticulture. Public demand for information about plant problems was so intense it made educational programming for either of them virtually impossible.

Initially they used the mass media to solve that problem. The result was television and radio gardening shows put on by Gibby served only to make the public aware the Extension office was the place to get help.

Enter the volunteers into the Master Gardener program

They explored other avenues to address the needs of the backyard gardener most effectively. Among approaches considered was the concept of recruiting and training volunteers to serve the urban audience. They wanted a distinguished title. "Gartenmeister," which they anglicized as "Master Gardener (MG)."

This title would be appropriate for volunteers who had received extensive training. Initially the Western Washington Research and Extension Center (WWREC) rejected the idea of training volunteers. So, they did a trial at the Tacoma Mall, which proved successful. They were now convinced and committed to help train volunteers.

They published an article in the Northwest edition, "Wanted: Expert Gardeners to Become Master Gardeners." There were about 600 initial inquiries. About 200 were trained.

Subject matter was to include culture of ornamental plants, lawns, vegetables and fruits, control of plant diseases, insects and weeds, and safe use of pesticides. Sessions were to be held eight hours per day, one day a week, for five weeks. At the end of the training, volunteers were required to pass subject matter exams, as well as an exam for pesticide licensing by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Master Gardeners were then committed to volunteering a specified number of hours working with the gardening public. Faculty specialists from the WWREC and county faculty participated in teaching.

Sharon Collman, who had been working as program assistant with Gibby, became King County Extension agent and continued managing the program for several years. She is credited with building a solid foundation for the program. She also helped other Extension offices establish Master Gardener programs in Washington and in other states.

In the meantime, Bernard Wesenberg (deceased), Extension Ornamental Horticulture specialist at the WWREC, promoted the Master Gardener program nationwide.

As program ages it gains credibility and recognition

As time progressed, the program received the credibility and recognition it well deserved. It is not possible to name all who have made significant contributions to this program over the years. The list includes many faculty members and dedicated program assistants, who started MG programs statewide and deserve much credit.

To better manage the urban horticulture educational efforts statewide, a Master Gardener Volunteer coordinator position was funded. There are now over 3,000 Master Gardener volunteers across the state. They staff plant clinics in 105 communities at 171 locations.

Each Master Gardener received about 60 hours of training and volunteers a minimum of 50 hours as a community educator in his or her community. They extend the service of the university to more than 300,000 people each. Some have served actively in the program for more than 20 years.

Master Gardeners are active in all 50 states in the United States and eight Canadian provinces. According to the 2009 Extension Master Gardener Survey, there are nearly 95,000 active Extension Master Gardeners, who provide about 5 million volunteer service hours per year to their communities.

Once volunteers are accepted into a Master Gardener program, they are trained by cooperative Extension, university, and local industry specialists in subjects such as taxonomy, plant pathology, soil health, entomology, cultural growing requirements, sustainable gardening, nuisance wildlife management, and integrated pest management.

The training is about 50 hours and participants must pass all quizzes and examinations with a cumulative average of 70% or better. In addition, they complete 50 hours of volunteer time on projects pre-approved by the Master Gardener coordinator. This volunteer time must be finished within one calendar year after their formal training.

To stay active, you must do the following every year:

Pay your local association dues.
Complete 20 hours of volunteer time on pre-approved Master Gardener projects.
Complete 10 hours of pre-approved training in horticulture. Training opportunities will be provided locally but are also available at state and national conferences.

If you are interested, call the Extension office at 419-334-6340 and ask for the Master Gardener office.

Viola Purdy is a Master Gardener with the Ohio State University Extension Offices in Sandusky and Ottawa counties.