Perhaps some of you are asking “what is a Master Gardener?” First, it is not a self-imposed title. Official definition: Master Gardeners are trained volunteer educators who work within their local community to promote environmentally sound horticultural practices. As an educational outreach component of Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Master Gardener program brings the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities – Virginia Tech and Virginia State University – to the people of the commonwealth. Translated, and speaking only for myself, I have a passion for gardening and I want to help others make their corner of the world a little brighter.
The Virginia Cooperative Extension has 107 local offices, such as the one in Chesterfield, 11 agricultural research centers, two departmental research centers, and six 4-H educational centers. In Virginia there are 62 Master Gardener units with nearly 5,000 volunteers. In 2014, these volunteers made contact with over 612,000 people either by phone, email, or in person by volunteering 487,000 hours.
Locally, you can contact the Chesterfield extension office at 751-4401 Monday through Friday 8-4:30. There is a master gardener on duty at the help desk every day the office is open. Walk-ins are welcome, too. I was answering calls at the help desk one Monday after a beautiful spring weekend. I received 12 phone calls and had three walk-ins. The questions varied from fertilizer to fungus.
That was a fun day. If you have a question or an issue with a plant, soil, insect, disease or natural resource, it is very likely there has been research conducted and information published. I encourage you to take advantage of this service. There is no cost because you, the taxpayer, have already paid for the research.
If you have questions outside of business hours, try submitting your questions at http://offices.ext.vt.edu/chesterfield/#. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Ask an expert! Another option for people who prefer doing their own investigating, search www.ext.vt.edu.
Whether you call, email, walk-in or search yourself, the cooperative extension has the tools that can improve your landscape and make that turn into your driveway bring a smile to your face.
Larry’s timely tip: Summer pruning of roses encourages fall blooming. Do your research first but the general rule is: Cut back stems to just above the first branch with five leaves.
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