By connecting people with plants, Master Gardener℠ volunteers share the benefits of sustainable gardening with community members across North Carolina. These benefits include producing fresh fruits and vegetables that encourage healthier eating, improving physical and mental wellbeing, providing habitat for pollinators and wildlife, protecting soil, water, and air quality, and enhancing our homes, workplaces, schools and parks while creating a sense of belonging and connectedness to our environment.

Here are a few examples of how Master Gardener volunteers connected people to plants through science-based education and outreach in 2021.

Brunswick County

Master Gardener volunteers delivered a series of online classes and hosted an open house at the Brunswick County Botanical Garden to address new resident's questions and provide solutions for coastal gardening challenges. Over 300 community members learned about the 15 vignette gardens, which demonstrate plant varieties that perform well in coastal gardens and provide inspiration for sustainable home landscape design. A series of virtual tours provide inspiration at any time of year.

Johnston County

Master Gardener volunteers write a monthly newsletter, known as "The Gardener's Dirt", that addresses common plant questions and provides seasonal gardening advice. Using resources provided by the NC State Plant Disease and Insect Clinic, Master Gardener volunteers alert gardeners to Be On the Look Out (BOLO) for pest and plant disease issues that are common at specific times of the year.

Vance & Warren Counties

Master Gardener volunteers shared science-based, sustainable gardening information with community members by staffing a Q&A table at the farmer’s market, hosting online gardening seminars, and distributing a quarterly newsletter. Expansion of the demonstration garden at the county Extension center equipped Master Gardener volunteers with hands-on tools to teach gardening best practices in an easily accessible setting.

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Learn more about how you can be part of the NC State Extension Master Gardener program!

Read the 2021 Annual Report to explore more examples of how volunteers with the Extension Master Gardener℠ program share their knowledge to help North Carolinians learn and grow.

Plants Do That

Visit Plants Do That to learn about the benefits of gardening. This infographic series was produced by the National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture.