How Can a Master Gardener Help with My Lawn and Garden?

Maintaining a healthy lawn or garden often presents certain challenges along the way. Whether you’re new to landscaping or you consider yourself a gardening expert, seeking professional advice can help you plan a lawn or garden that prospers in your climate. One such resource that aids both novices and veterans in gardening a master gardener.

Due to their intensive training in local gardening, master gardeners provide homeowners with valuable plant information based on their location. In addition to answering homeowners’ questions via phone or email, master gardeners lead garden tours and teach informative gardening classes. 

If you’re considering seeking the advice of a master gardener, read on! In this guide, we’ll explain what a master gardener is and how you can benefit from their advice.

What is a Master Gardener?

The Master Gardener program was first started in 1972 after the Washington State University Cooperative Extension was asked to provide horticultural information and advice. 

As volunteers were trained to meet this public demand, the Master Gardener Program became permanent and offered gardening expertise. Now, decades later, master gardeners are in all 50 states, ready to answer homeowners’ questions. 

As you may guess, master gardeners go through extensive training on a variety of horticultural subjects. After undergoing this intensive training specific to your state, master gardeners volunteer their time to answer homeowners’ questions, teach at workshops, research various gardening topics and organize garden tours. 

Whether it be soil health, pest management, plant disease prevention or sustainable gardening, master gardeners offer assistance through their local knowledge and network of other master gardeners.

How Can a Master Gardener Help Me?

Master gardeners help homeowners with their landscapes in numerous ways. Perhaps you’re struggling with managing lawn disease, or maybe you can’t find a type of grass that thrives in your soil. In either case, master gardeners bring their research-based advice to help your lawn or garden flourish. You may even ask master gardeners questions such as what type of weeds are growing in your garden, or when a certain type of tree blooms in your location.

In addition to answering basic questions on plant health, master gardeners help homeowners bring the most out of their landscape. By offering landscaping advice and plant ideas, master gardeners allow homeowners to create a yard that is aesthetically pleasing.

Why Should I Contact a Master Gardener?

Because master gardeners have studied horticulture in your local area, you can be assured their advice is trustworthy and specific for your location. Unlike gardening books that cover horticulture from a broad perspective, master gardeners offer information based on where you live. 

They may point out native plant varieties and the soil types found in your area, for example. They’ll also be more familiar with fluctuating temperatures and weather. 

Their expertise includes information on pests and diseases in your landscape, as well as plant recommendations and how to care for them in your climate.

And, just to add a cherry on top, their help is usually free.

Contacting a Master Gardener is Easy and Free

Seeking advice from a master gardener is incredibly easy and usually free. Because master gardeners volunteer their time to serve in their communities, there is typically no charge for their advice. To contact a master gardener, simply reach out to your local extension office. From there, they will help connect you with a master gardener in your location.