Master Gardener

Welcome to the Defiance County Master Gardener Program

• OUR MISSION:  The Master Gardener Program provides knowledge to and develops the leadership abilities of volunteers who enable others to improve the quality of their lives by enhancing their home and community environments through horticulture education and activities.
• OUR VISION:  The Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Program is a premier statewide network of volunteer education and leadership development; as well as a consumer horticulture education delivery system that maximizes human, material, and natural resources, and values teamwork and excellence in educational programming.

What is the Master Gardener Program?

 The Master Gardener program provides intensive training in horticulture to interested gardeners who then volunteer their time assisting with educational programs and activities for Ohio residents through their Ohio State University county Extension Office.

 Working with county Extension personnel, Master Gardeners provide such services to their communities as answering gardening questions, conducting plant clinics, working with youth or the elderly, beautifying the community, developing community or demonstration gardens, and other horticultural activities.

 The Master Gardener Program began in Ohio over ten years ago, and is now active in over 30 counties. The program is also conducted in nearly every state in the U.S. as well as in Canada.

 How did the Master Gardener program originate?

The program originated in Seattle, Washington in 1972.  The Extension Agent in the King County office of the Washington State Extension Service began to train and utilize the expertise of volunteers in order to more effectively reach the gardening public with research-based educational information.  It was a great concept that has now spread across the United States, Canada and to other countries.
 
The Master Gardener program in Ohio has existed since the late 1970s and has grown steadily.  Although it's initial start and growth was in the more urban counties of our state, there are now nearly 3000 active Master Gardeners in more than 60 Ohio counties, urban, suburban and rural.