Master Gardener
Welcome to the Mississippi Master Gardener's website. Through this program, individuals are trained and certified in consumer horticulture and related areas.
In exchange for 40 hours of educational training, individuals are required to return 40 hours of volunteer service within one year of their training. This service should help county Extension offices with horticulture projects that benefit their local communities.
After the first year, volunteers are required to return 20 hours of volunteer service and to attend 12 hours of educational training to remain certified as Master Gardeners.
Continuing education is offered to encourage long-term commitments. Most certified Master Gardeners serve five to seven years. The Master Gardener approach helps the local Extension office reach a broader audience than is possible with only one or two agents. It also provides the local office a way to serve the public and, at the same time, develop a supportive clientele group.
Volunteers help extend the educational arm of the university to the public by providing horticultural information based on university research and recommendations.
The Master Gardener Volunteer program is a great way to gain horticultural expertise at a low cost, meet other avid gardeners, share gardening experiences, get connected to the community, and belong to a well-respected and educational organization.
--Mississippi Master Gardener Association Awards 2007 - 2015
--Past Master Gardener Officers
--Master Gardener Web Application
Publications
News
Do you have improving your garden or landscape on your New Year’s resolution list? If you don’t, you should! Each month, we are going to offer a few suggested tasks to do. So, without further ado, here are four tasks for you to complete in your garden and landscape during the month of January:
There’s always a lot going on in August. School is back in session, and everyone is trying to get back on their busy schedule. In the middle of the chaos, don’t forget your garden!
One of the signs that spring will be sprung in the near future is when the daffodils start awakening and poking up in the landscape beds.
BILOXI, Miss. -- Students at North Bay Elementary School in Biloxi got another hands-on learning component this spring with the addition of a school garden.
Gardeners can buy native and naturalized heirloom plants during the annual Metro Master Gardeners plant sale April 28.
Success Stories
After a conversation with a fellow volunteer at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson, John Malanchak decided to follow his heart.
“I’d always wanted to work with special needs individuals,” explains Malanchak, a retired geologist. “But I didn’t know what I could offer them.”
In 2016, Myrtle native Michael Hale was looking for a meaningful, lasting way to remember his late wife, Vicki M. Smith.
