Collage of Master Gardener pictures.
50 years and counting
Cultivating plants, people, and communities since 1973
Support the Master Gardener Program

Throughout this site there are links to documents of various file types.
Please contact our Statewide Program Leader if you require this information in a different format.

It all began at Washington State University

A grassroots, sociologic movement that started at Washington State University in 1973 and was emulated across the United States and into Canada and South Korea, the Master Gardener Program is WSU Extension’s flagship volunteer program.

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Yesterday

One of the first Extension Master Gardener clinics in Washington State.

Washington State University is a Land Grant institute which means it has a responsibility to teach, research, and extend knowledge. Initially WSU assigned horticulture faculty to county offices as part of the Agriculture, Home Economics, and 4-H outreach education programs. The emphasis of the horticultural programs was crop production. It was not until rapid urban growth and the burgeoning interest in gardening that Extension began to develop programs emphasizing urban horticulture.

Today

Master gardeners teaching an irrigation class.

The WSU Extension Master Gardener Program addresses important sociologic and environmental issues by teaching research-based horticulture information. We want people to have important skills and abilities that help mitigate challenges and to understand that everyone has a role to play in creating and sustaining healthy and resilient communities.

Tomorrow

Image of two Master Gardeners teaching gardening to group of children.

We use knowledge to empower healthy and resilient communities, but what if we could do more?

The WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is raising money to establish the first ever faculty chair fully dedicated to the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program.