Welcome to the Start of your Master Gardener Journey

As you begin your time with the Master Gardener Program, we want to start off by saying “Thank you!” for choosing to give your time and talents in volunteer service. As a volunteer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, you will become an important resource in your community as you help others make good gardening decisions based on university research.

The Master Gardener Program is first and foremost a volunteer program using gardening to make a measurable change in Wisconsin communities. A hallmark of the Master Gardener Program is our use of unbiased, research-based, scientific information. This helps us explain the “how” and “why” of what we do with plants in our gardens. To do this properly, you need to have a good foundation in the plant sciences, general gardening practices, integrated pest management, and other gardening topics. We ensure this with the program exam and your continuing education.

You will be a representative of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension. You will help people learn about gardening and participate in the many benefits of being around plants. You do this by answering garden questions, providing educational programs, or working in display or food donation gardens.

When you serve as a volunteer, people will expect you to answer their questions and have it all make sense, and sometimes that can be a challenge! By learning the science behind gardening, you will be better equipped to help people understand their gardens and make the decisions that are right for them. Many times, you are learning along with them, exploring different options and sleuthing for answers. Being observant, listening to what people are saying, asking questions, and knowing where to look up information is what makes you a successful Master Gardener Volunteer.

This course achieves three important steps in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer in Wisconsin:

• Serves as an orientation to UW-Madison Division of Extension and reviews the scope of being an Extension volunteer in the Master Gardener Program.
• Allows you to complete the enrollment process to become an Extension volunteer in the Master Gardener Program.
• Provides the horticulture exam in order for you to demonstrate a baseline of horticultural knowledge.

After successfully completing all steps of this onboarding experience, you will be awarded your Volunteer Agreement, volunteer position description, and be cleared to begin work on approved projects.

👀  Watch: Mike Maddox, Outreach Program Manager provides a welcome to the program.