The mis­sion of Uni­ver­sity of Mary­land Exten­sion Howard County Mas­ter Gar­den­ers is to edu­cate Mary­land res­i­dents about safe, effec­tive, and sus­tain­able hor­ti­cul­tural prac­tices that build healthy gar­dens, land­scapes and communities.

ACTIVITIES

• Ask-a-Master Gar­dener – pro­vides infor­ma­tion to home gar­den­ers at county libraries.
• Bay-Wise – edu­cates res­i­dents about sim­ple choices peo­ple can make in their land­scapes and home that can directly affect the health of the Chesa­peake Bay.
• Con­ser­va­tion Stew­ard­ship – raises aware­ness of inva­sive plant species and the need to con­trol them before they crowd out the native species.   By remov­ing inva­sive plant species and plant­ing native shrubs and trees in the Mid­dle Patux­ent Envi­ron­men­tal Area, wildlife habi­tat and wood­lands are restored.
• Com­post­ing – pro­vides edu­ca­tion about back­yard com­post­ing at demon­stra­tion sites in the County and dis­trib­utes FREE com­post­ing bins to County res­i­dents.  Mas­ter Gar­den­ers also speak to inter­ested groups about composting.
• Exhibit Com­mit­tee – cre­ates exhibits for pub­lic events such as the Howard County Fair.
• Green School Com­mit­tee – assists Howard county schools in becom­ing Mary­land Green School certified.
• Grow It, Eat It – pro­vides infor­ma­tion and demon­stra­tions to folks inter­ested in their own food pro­duc­tion such as veg­etable gar­den­ing and small fruit pro­duc­tion.  Spe­cial pro­grams are being devel­oped for ele­men­tary and mid­dle school students.
• Newslet­ter (Loose­leaf) – Mas­ter Gar­den­ers are encour­aged to con­tribute arti­cles, news items, etc. in the monthly newslet­ter (Looseleaf).
• Pub­lic (Com­mu­nity) Edu­ca­tion – pro­vides pre­sen­ta­tions on gar­den­ing and the envi­ron­ment for the pub­lic.  Mas­ter Gar­den­ers speak at libraries, gar­den clubs, vil­lage cen­ters, schools or other venues.
• Pub­lic Infor­ma­tion – gen­er­ates press releases for edu­ca­tion pro­grams and other activ­i­ties.  Also designs fliers which are then posted on com­mu­nity bul­letin boards.
• Rake and Take Pro­gram – matches those who want bagged leaves for com­post­ing with those who have bagged leaves ready to be used.
• Schools and Streams – 5th grade stu­dents from the Howard County Pub­lic School Sys­tem par­tic­i­pate in the plant­ing of a ripar­ian stream buffer which pro­tects Howard County and Mary­land streams and rivers which flow into the Chesa­peake Bay.
• Stormwater/Watershed – over­sees the dis­tri­b­u­tion of FREE rain bar­rels, the main­te­nance of a demon­stra­tion rain gar­den at the Alpha Ridge Land­fill, and pro­vides edu­ca­tional pro­grams for the community.
• Youth Edu­ca­tion – pro­vides out­reach to the youth in our county on var­i­ous top­ics related to gar­den­ing, the envi­ron­ment, native plants and more.
• Whipps Gare­den Ceme­tery – Mas­ter Gar­den­ers main­tain the Whipps Gar­den Ceme­tery, a one-acre garden/park located at 3651 St. Johns Lane, just south of the Fred­er­ick Road and St. John’s Lane inter­sec­tion.  This garden/cemetery is a cer­ti­fied Bay Wise property.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Inter­ested res­i­dents can become a Uni­ver­sity of Mary­land Exten­sion Howard County Mas­ter Gar­dener by suc­cess­fully com­plet­ing the Mas­ter Gar­dener basic train­ing pro­gram and then vol­un­teer­ing the required num­ber of hours for certification.

CONTACT

Geor­gia Eacker
Fac­ulty Exten­sion Assis­tant
Mas­ter Gar­dener Pro­gram Coor­di­na­tor
410−313−1913
geacker@umd.edu

3300 North Ridge Road
Suite 240
Elli­cott City, Mary­land 21043
TEL 410−313−2707
FAX 410−313−2712

WEBSITE

http://mastergardener.umd.edu/local/Howard/Aboutus.cfm