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2023 Master Gardener Training Program Applications Opening Soon

The 2024 St. Louis Master Gardener Training will begin on Thursday, January 4th and continue for 18 consecutive Thursdays. Classes will be held at the Missouri Botanical Garden. All accepted applicants are required to complete 40 volunteer and 10 continuing education hours in 2024.

Registration for the afternoon session (noon to 3:00 p.m.) of the 2024 St. louis Master Gardener training will open at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 19th.  Here is the registration link https://forms.gle/q5bmWKdLhp7aYUb58

Registration for the evening session (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) of the 2024 St. louis Master Gardener training will open at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 26th.  Here is the registration link https://forms.gle/5NxSd41YnfS93nep9

Please contact Holly Records recordsh@missouri.edu for more information and read more about the program below.

Hundreds of gardeners from throughout the Greater Saint Louis area have taken the Master Gardener training. The 18-week program provides in-depth education and coursework that not only sharpens the participants’ knowledge, but also creates an amazing cadre of volunteers who work in gardens and programs across all Saint Louis communities. 

The program was established in 1983 by the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden in partnership with University of Missouri Extension. This partnership has provided horticultural education and outreach into the Saint Louis community by training volunteers to educate and participate in public /civic gardening. The Missouri Botanical Garden is home to the Saint Louis Master Gardener program and provides many of the instructors for the training.  Along with hundreds of gardens and facilities, the Botanical Garden is a key volunteer site for the Master Gardeners where they volunteer in a variety of ways including working with children in the education department, answering questions at the Kemper Center Plant Doctor desk and Horticulture Answer Service, and working side-by-side with the Garden’s horticulture staff.  

There is no other Master Gardener Training like the Saint Louis Master Gardener Training. Get Trained, Have Fun, Volunteer, and Get Certified!

“The Saint Louis Master Gardener training is a wonderful opportunity for first-time gardeners and those wishing to brush up on their skills to get a crash course in understanding how to grow and care for plants. You will come out knowing more about plants than you ever thought possible!”  Daria McKelvey 2019 

“I’ve always been a gardener. I grew up gardening and foraging the abandoned orchards and woodlands around our 4-acre home in north county.  The idea of becoming a master gardener might lead me on to another level of learning and that was my initial goal. With this new knowledge, I have turned a vacant home in Ferguson and the adjoining lot into a hydroponics/seed starting house and the surrounding property into a community garden, focused on wheelchair-bound folks suffering from cerebral palsy, autism, and other traumatic brain injuries.”  Ron Brown 2018 

“My life in the Historic Soulard neighborhood is centered on the lovely backyard garden we have developed over the past 10 years.  I have enjoyed this garden so much that I wanted to develop a deeper understanding of gardening best practices so I can better manage my own garden and help other local gardeners.” Veronica Putz 2018