Become a Master Gardener Brochure (pdf)

To become a Master Gardener, you first must enroll and be accepted in your local county Extension program. Contact your county Extension office. Upon acceptance in your home county, you then take the Master Gardener Core Course (see below), taught in the winter.

Master Gardeners are required to volunteer 50 hours the first year and 25 hours annually thereafter. Active volunteers are also asked to participate in continuing education of 5-12 hours per year, depending on the county in which they volunteer.

Some activities of Master Gardeners include:

• teaching classes and workshops
• answering phone inquiries concerning home horticulture
• assisting with county Horticulture Days
• guiding and supervising community plantings and school gardens
• teaching and judging youth horticulture projects
• media interviews and articles on horticulture topics
• speaking to schools and youth groups on gardening topics
• holding plant clinics at garden centers and farmers' markets
• representing the program at county and state fair exhibits

Many Master Gardeners are also involved with horticulture therapy for both children and adults, teaching horticulture in hospitals, nursing homes, and retirement centers.

To illustrate the impact of the University of Minnesota Master Gardener Program, if each Master Gardener contacts 5 people directly per hour of volunteer work (a conservative estimate): 2200 active Master Gardeners x 25 hours volunteered per year x 5 people served = 275,000 people are receiving information each year through the program.

2009 Master Gardener Core Course

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
January 15 – January 31, 2009
9:00 am – 4:00 pm Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
Macmillian Auditorium
3675 Arboretum Drive
Chaska, MN 55318-9613
Registration Deadline: January 1, 2009 (No refunds after January 8, 2009)

Online Class
January 12* – May 4, 2009
* Master Gardener volunteers start January 12th; non-volunteers start January 20th.
Class topics and instructors change weekly
Registration Deadline: December 29, 2008. No refunds after January 5, 2009)

St. Cloud, MN - Location TBA
January 30 – February 27, 2009
9:00 am – 4:00 pm Fridays & Saturdays
University of Minnesota Extension - Stearns County Office
Midtown Office Complex - 3400 1st St N – Suite 103
St. Cloud, MN 56303
Registration Deadline: January 16, 2009. No refunds after January 23, 2009)

Perham, MN – Location TBA
February 21 – March 20, 2009
9:00 am – 4:00 pm Fridays & Saturdays
Mulligan’s-Perham Lakeside Golf Club
2727 450th Street
Perham, MN 56573
Registration Deadline: February 7, 2009. No refunds after February 14, 2009)

Moorhead, MN
January 31 – February 26, 2009
9:00 am – 4:00 pm Thursdays & Saturdays
University of Minnesota Extension – Clay County Office
715 11 St N Ste 107B
Moorhead, MN 56561
Registration Deadline: January 17, 2009. No refunds after January 24, 2009)

Thief River Falls, MN
March 21 – April 16, 2009
9:00 am – 4:00 pm Thursdays & Saturdays
U of M Extension Office - Pennington County Courthouse
Thief River Falls, MN 56701
Registration ends March 7, 2009. No refunds after March 14, 2009