Dougherty Extension plans Master Gardener training

ALBANY — The Dougherty County Extension Office is looking for interested candidates who would like the opportunity to become Master Gardener Extension Volunteers and serve their communities with other garden enthusiasts. Training for certification as a Master Gardener Extension Volunteer will be offered through the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office in Dougherty County.

The Master Gardener program is designed to train volunteers so that they become highly skilled individuals in the area of horticulture. The individual agrees to volunteer a minimum of 50 hours within a year following the completion of training in exchange for 40 hours of horticultural training by extension professionals. Activities in a volunteer program may include, but are not limited to, environmental gardening and composting demonstrations, plant clinics, newsletters, news articles, community gardens, beautification projects, civic or garden club presentations, children programs, homeowner visits and phone consultations from home or the Extension Office, and information booths at fairs and festivals.

The cost of the program is $140, which includes a Master Gardener textbook, a name badge, one-year membership in the Georgia Master Gardener Association and all other class materials.

Classes will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m.-noon beginning April 2 and concluding on June 16, at the Dougherty County Extension Office, located at 125 Pine Ave., Suite 100.

Topics of discussion will range from landscape design, turf management, organic gardening to basic entomology, weed science ID, diseases and insects of ornamentals and vegetables, and chemical pest control.

Interested persons are encouraged to contact the Dougherty County Cooperative Extension Office to obtain an application and a memorandum of agreement. Complete the packet and mail it to the address at the top of the application no later than 5 p.m. on March 12. Once an application has been received and the applicant has been notified of his or her acceptance into the program, a check for $140, payable to Dougherty County Extension/4-H, should be mailed to the Dougherty County Extension office for training supplies.

For more information or questions regarding the upcoming Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Program in Dougherty County, contact James Morgan at (229) 436-7216

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