Texas Master Gardeners focus their educational programs on a myriad of environmental issues: landscape water conservation, vegetable and landscape plant testing, solid waste management, and environmentally-safe fire ant and garden pest management.
Texas Master Gardeners are also committed to educating our next generation of gardeners using school gardening curricula, including “Squirmy Worm Recycles,” “Cylinder Gardening,” “Jurassic Gardening,” and Junior Master GardenerR. Texas Master Gardeners have created or assisted in the development of these effective curricula which combine youth, leadership, gardening, and the environment.
Texas Master Gardeners expand the human capacity of Extension by over 10 percent annually, contributing the volunteer-service equivalent of 133 full-time employees. In 2001, 5,329 Texas Master Gardeners in 98 counties provided 276,431 hours of service, providing a $4.2 million benefit to the State of Texas.
Texas Master Gardeners, along with their Extension agent and specialist colleagues, are committed to enhancing the quality of life for Texans through educational programs in horticulture and the environment. Throughout communities and neighborhoods, Texas Master Gardeners coordinate and carry out beautification projects at schools, parks, libraries, courthouses, city halls, and other public institutions. Within each project, they demonstrate research-based, environmentally-sound techniques and plant materials.
Speakers’ Bureaus provide significant outreach opportunities for Texas Master Gardeners, who make thousands of presentations annually, delivering Extension’s message to civic clubs, classrooms, garden clubs, and other community organizations.
The phenomenal growth of the Texas Master Gardener Program continues; in just the past year, the cadre of Texas Master Gardeners has increased by 28 percent (4,150 in 2000 to 5,329 in 2001), and the hours of volunteer service on behalf of our state has risen by 26 percent (219, 815 hours served in 2000 to 276,431 served in 2001).
The Texas Master Gardener Program is the largest program of its kind in the United States. This program, comprised of dedicated volunteers and faculty, allows Texas Cooperative Extension to multiply its efforts and continue to expand educational programs to emerging audiences across the state.
