About Polk County Master Gardeners
Master Gardeners are a group of volunteers with training provided by the University of Florida Cooperative Extension. The Cooperative Extension is the outreach arm of the University of Florida responsible for bringing research-based information into communities to help people improve their lives. Master Gardeners assist the Cooperative Extension through gardening programs and horticultural activities designed to educate the public.
This site is maintained to aid residents of central Florida and Polk County Master Gardeners in their commitment to bringing University of Florida based gardening and agricultural research to the communities of central Florida and Polk County.
What is a Master Gardener?
Very simply, a Master Gardener is a person who has been officially trained and certified, and who likes to share his or her knowledge of gardening with other people. People thinking about becoming a Master Gardener sometimes worry that they do not know enough, but that is where the training comes in. All that is really needed is the desire to learn.
A Master Gardener is a volunteer who wants to make the community a better, more beautiful place to live by helping people with gardening problems. A Master Gardener, first of all, wants to help people. Secondly, all Master Gardeners are volunteers. Thirdly, Master Gardeners are gardeners; they want to garden and to learn about gardening. Not all Master Gardeners are expert gardeners, but they all have the desire to learn about gardening. Master Gardeners share their time, knowledge, enthusiasm and energy with the community.
Master Gardeners are provided training by members of the University of Florida IFAS Cooperative Extension service. Initial training is accomplished through extensive classroom work. Subsequent training is by speakers, working with others, individual study, and conferences. One of the great ways to learn is by researching the answers to the public's questions.
There are Master Gardeners in all 50 U.S. states, several U.S. territories, and many Canadian provinces. The idea of creating Master Gardeners was born in the early 1970s after several cooperative extension agents in the state of Washington were overwhelmed with information requests from home gardeners. A plan emerged to involve extension specialists and university faculty in the training of volunteers in exchange for a commitment to spend a specified number of hours doing volunteer work in the community.
The Master Gardener program came to Florida in 1979. The program is under the auspices of the University of Florida IFAS (Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences) Cooperative Extension service. There are Master Gardeners in 56 of the 67 Florida counties. The average age of the programs is 12 years while each program has an average of 73 trained volunteers. The Polk county program started in 1997, and currently, it has 56 Master Gardeners. Statewide, more than 3,678 volunteers contributed 309,825 hours to local county horticulture extension educational programs, providing $4,972,697 worth of services to citizens of Florida.
What Do Master Gardeners Do?
Nationwide, Master Gardeners do many things. Many are involved in the education of our children either in school programs or other activities. Some Master Gardeners prefer to work to educate adults through newspaper columns, Garden Clubs or other community organization talks, answering questions at community events, or speaking with neighbors. One key activity is to answer questions when someone from the general public calls the local County Extension Service Office. Many of the County Extension services have beautiful demonstration gardens designed, planted, and maintained by the local Master Gardeners. Most of these gardens have a strong emphasis on educating the public.
In Polk County Master Gardener activities include answering the public's questions either at the Bartow Extension Service office or at fairs and flower shows. Master Gardeners care for a demonstration garden at the Bartow office with many of the plants that can grow successfully in this area. There are monthly meetings with guest speakers and field trips to local public gardens, nature centers, parks, and nurseries nurseries. Other activities include working with children at local schools, or on the children's special field trips such as Earth Day and Agrofest. Many Mater Gardeners also work with adults at Garden Clubs or neighborhood associations.
How Do You Become a Master Gardener?
In Polk County becoming a Master Gardener starts by calling Dr. David Shibles, Polk County Urban Horticulturist, or following the link to The Sprouting Kit (1.68MB pdf), completing the application form, and returning it to the address provided. Dr. Shibles number is (863) 519-8677, extension 109. If you wish to speak to a Master Gardener about the program you can call (863) 519-8677 extension 118 or 119. Master Gardener classes are normally held annually starting in late September and going into December. Class is held from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM one day per week.
