Become a Master Gardener
Helping Others Learn to Grow
The Master Gardener Program is a cooperative effort between community volunteers and Cape Cod Cooperative Extension staff to provide unbiased horticultural information to the residents of Barnstable County. Working with Master Gardener volunteers, Extension can expand its ability to provide quality information to the residents of Barnstable County through an array of horticultural programs.
Master Gardeners are adults of all ages who love gardening and who have previous gardening experience. They come from all walks of life and are willing to learn about horticulture and share that research-based information with others!
Click here to view the Master Gardener Brochure.
Becoming A Master Gardener
Master Gardener Program Overview (pdf)
Applications for the 2022 Class (deadline October 1, 2021)
Candidates for the program will be chosen through an interview process from the pool of applicants. Once selected the candidates will participate in a training program that will prepare them in becoming Master Gardeners. Upon graduating from the program the candidates will then be required to give back to the program in volunteer hours (largely spent on the plant clinic and hotline).
Master Gardener Programs Include:
- Plant Clinic & Hotline
- Backyard Horticulture
- Children’s Gardens
- Continuing Ed Conference
- Demonstration Garden
- Master Gardener Scholarship
- Annual Plant Sale
- Soil Test Clinics
- Speakers Bureau
Ask a Master Gardener
Click here for the Master Gardener Speakers Bureau brochure and comprehensive list of topics.
To make a request for a speaker to speak to your organization or group, please fill out the information on the form by clicking on the link below.
Click here to request a speaker from the Speakers Bureau
The Master Gardener’s information table is where we answer gardening questions and have handouts available on various current horticultural topics.
The Master Gardener’s may participate at community events where our Horticultural message can be an integral part of the event theme. We reserve the right to cancel within one week of the event if staffing by the Master Gardeners is not available.
Click here to request a Master Gardener
NOTE: REQUESTS MUST BE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE MONTH PRIOR TO EVENT.
and environment through
horticultural education.
research and the research
resources of the University
of Massachusetts.
with their environment by helping
them find sound management
practices for home and urban
natural resources.
maintain an aesthetically
pleasing environment.
well-being through people/plant
interactions and horticulture therapy.
a safe, abundant food supply
through home fruit and
vegetable production.
History
The Master Gardener Association of Cape Cod was established in 1993 and is a non-profit (501c3) organization run by a Board of Directors. On Cape Cod, the Master Gardener Program is a cooperative effort between community volunteers and the Extension staff to provide unbiased horticultural information to the residents of Barnstable County. The efforts of the Master Gardeners increase the ability for Cooperative Extension to reach a greater number of people using the expertise gained during training. The Master Gardeners “Help Others Learn to Grow” by engaging in a number of programs, including the Horticulture Clinic and Hotline, the Demonstration Garden, the Children’s Garden and many others.
In 1972, a Cooperative Extension Agent in Washington State, inundated with questions from home gardeners, decided to train a group of volunteers to help him handle the outreach of information. This was the beginning of the Master Gardener Program and the idea rapidly spread across the country. The Cooperative Extension soon maintained Master Gardener programs in all 50 states.
The University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension ran the Master Gardener Program in Massachusetts until 1989. At that time, the loss of county based Extension personnel throughout much of Massachusetts resulted in the termination of the University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program. However, support for Extension in Barnstable County still existed and the county Extension office remained. Roberta Clark, Barnstable County Extension Educator, and a group of Master Gardeners organized Cape Cod’s first Master Gardener Class in 1990. The Master Gardener Association of Cape Cod maintains a strong relationship with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension. That relationship is served by the Horticulture Extension Educator who advises the Association in continuing its mission to assist the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension in meeting the horticultural needs of Cape Cod’s population.