Through education and outreach, the NC State Extension Master Gardener℠ program connects people with the benefits of gardening and empowers North Carolinians to cultivate healthy plants, landscapes, ecosystems, and communities. Our network of trained, passionate Extension Master Gardener volunteers work under the leadership of Extension professionals based in N.C. Cooperative Extension county centers across North Carolina.
Explore stories that celebrate our work to help North Carolinians improve their lives and grow our state.
Serving Communities Across North Carolina
From community gardens to plant clinics, Extension Master Gardener volunteers engage thousands of North Carolinians each year, helping them to learn and grow. Explore our most in-demand volunteer service activities and their combined reach across North Carolina.
Growing Knowledge to Protect Pollinators
Extension Master Gardener volunteers helped NC State experts research maintenance practices that maximize the pollinator habitat value of home landscapes.
Protecting Pollinators When It Counts
Extension Master Gardener volunteers teach North Carolinians about pollinator conservation through classes and workshops, educational materials, and demonstration gardens. Now, they have a new way to help protect pollinators and encourage others to get involved.
Finding the Best Tomatoes
Extension Master Gardener volunteers helped identify tomato varieties that are more likely to thrive in North Carolina gardens by trialing three new disease-resistant varieties developed by NC State plant breeders.
Supporting Seed Libraries
Establishing and supporting seed libraries is one way Extension Master Gardener volunteers expand access to fresh produce and increase community resilience.
Helping Grow the Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
Volunteers work with Extension professionals to enhance and expand the Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, a free, online plant database where you can find a wealth of information about more than 4,700 plants that grow in and around North Carolina.
Honoring Excellence in Gardening Education
Extension Master Gardener volunteers in Durham County received two prestigious awards at the 2023 International Master Gardener Conference in recognition of their exceptional work in gardening education and Extension outreach.
In communities across North Carolina, over 3900 volunteers with the NC State Extension Master Gardener℠ program work under the leadership of Extension educators to strengthen and expand Extension’s delivery of research-based knowledge to North Carolinians.
Through education and outreach, we connect people with the benefits of gardening and empower them to cultivate healthy plants, landscapes, ecosystems, and communities.