Along with Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and county extension offices, the Master Gardener Volunteer Program offers consumers valuable information, primarily about home gardening.

Trained in all areas of consumer horticulture, Master Gardeners are “on contract” with Penn State’s Cooperative Extension facilities to provide reliable information.

David Giddy, an extension agent in Seattle, is recognized as the architect of the program. Since its inception in 1972, the Master Gardener program is active in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and three Canadian provinces.

Penn State’s Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program was developed in 1982 and now has more than 1,400 volunteers within 58 of Pennsylvania’s 64 counties.

Volunteer commitment



Volunteers chosen for the Master Gardener program receive 30 hours of initial training in consumer horticulture and must commit to 50 hours of volunteer service in the first year after training, and 20 hours per year thereafter to remain certified and active as Master Gardener volunteers. Subjects covered include; communication and teaching, basic botany, plant propagation, plant diseases, and soils and fertilizers.

Volunteer service and activities are determined by each county’s extension program and can include, but are not limited to; answering consumer phone calls, presenting workshops, giving lectures and demonstrations to garden clubs, school groups, plant societies, and the general public.

Master Gardener volunteers also work with local newspapers, commerce groups, educational facilities, and other media to prepare newsletters, leaflets, and displays of gardening information.

I am pleased to offer my services as a Penn State-certified Master Gardener. I received training and was certified in 2003 and am happy to assist home gardeners with their gardening problems.

It is hoped that this column will provide a reliable source of gardening information, tips, techniques -- and possibly even a few tricks -- that will help you to become a better gardener, and to allow you to spend more time enjoying your garden.

Early summer, in the garden



Early summer gardening chores need not bog you down. With most of your garden (flower and vegetable) already planted, it’s time to take a breather from all the work that has gone into preparing and planting.

Vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers require little attention once established in the garden.

As you relax after work and stroll through the garden, watch for early signs of pests and/or disease. Catching problems early, before heavy infestations of aphids for example, is an important preventative measure.

Early tomato blight is a notorious fungal disease that is generally one of the most severe tomato problems faced by home gardeners each season. Early signs of the disease show up on the lower parts of plants as leaf blight (rapid discoloration and wilting are signs).

One way to help keep early tomato blight from infecting your tomato plants is to avoid planting tomatoes in the same spot year after year. Crop rotation plays a vital role in keeping a healthy garden.

In the annual and perennial gardens, pinching off spent blooms will add a few more days, or maybe even weeks, to your show of color through the season.

What you’re actually doing is forcing the plant to put more energy into producing new buds instead of allowing the plant to go to seed.

Deadheading is an easy gardening chore that keeps plants tidy and neat, with the added benefit of prolonged flowering.

Daily walks in the garden, morning or evening, allow you to watch for signs that will tell you if things are as they should be in the garden.

Our peonies, with their drooping stems, have lost all the petals from their flowers.

Circling each plant are hundreds of gorgeous pink petals, rose-like in their texture and feel, standing out in stark contrast against the lush green of the lawn.

As peonies fade, lilies begin their showy display. And after the lilies?

The answer lies in a future column.



Terry (TC) Conner lives and gardens on three acres in Mercer. For answers to your gardening questions, contact him at tc@thewritegardener.com.  For answers to other gardening questions, go to: http://solutions.psu.edu