About Us
Our Mission
To extend research-based knowledge and information on home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices to the residents of California.
Our Purpose
The UC Master Gardener Program is an educational outreach program provided largely by highly trained volunteers.
We teach sustainable home gardening and landscaping practices, and connect residents with research-based information produced at UC campuses. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a primary focus of Master Gardener education.
Master Gardener volunteers are recruited and trained to support land-grant universities throughout the United States and Canada.
Our primary goal is to help solve problems that home gardeners encounter.
UC Master Gardener programs are administered at the county level by University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) offices in over 50 counties.
We extend to our communities the benefits of scientific research conducted by recognized experts in their respective fields. UC Master Gardeners are a vital connection between research done at University of California campuses and the residents of the state.
Our History
The UC Master Gardener Program began in Santa Barbara County in 1990.
The concept of Master Gardeners was created in 1971 by two extension agents in Washington State as a way to help them answer the high volume of questions they received from home gardeners, which interfered with their work. They came up the idea of recruiting and training a corps of volunteers to serve the gardening public.
Pilot programs were first introduced to California in Riverside and Sacramento Counties in 1980. Today there are Master Gardener programs in all 50 states and four Canadian provinces.