Master Gardeners in Action

Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum has played an important role in the early growth of St. Louis.

Brightside St. Louis (formerly Operation Brightside) has been dedicated to cleaning and greening St. Louis since 1982. The organization helps make St. Louis a more beautiful place to live, work, learn and grow.

St. Louis Audubon Society volunteers consult with homeowners on improving their landscape with native plants through the Bring Conservation Home program.

Compton Hill Water Tower is a late-19th century engineering masterpiece designed by Harvey Ellis and is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The Water Tower & Park Preservation Society works collaboratively with the City, the Water Division and surrounding communities to preserve the historic structures and to improve the park and gardens.

Many Master Gardeners conduct public tours at the Missouri Botanical Garden, provide educational tours for student field trips, and act as instructors for educational programs.

Want a great way to help beautify one of St. Louis’ most beloved parks? Why not volunteer with the Flora Conservancy of Forest Park and work in beautiful settings such as the Jewel Box, Pagoda Circle, the golf course. Volunteers work in partnership with the St. Louis City Parks Department.

Forest Park Forever volunteers work side-by-side with knowledgeable horticulture and naturalist staff to maintain landscapes in Forest Park.

Help pot, grow, and plant young trees and shrubs at Forest ReLeaf of Missouri’s CommuniTree Gardens, a nonprofit, volunteer-driven tree nursery, in Creve Coeur Park.

Gateway Greening is proud to support over 200 community and youth gardens. They are always thrilled to see what neighbors can do with a few tools, seeds, and a little bit of land.

The heart of the Green Center is its outdoor spaces which include learning and demonstration gardens on the headquarters’ grounds; a half-acre prairie within a short walk of the headquarters; a half-acre Missouri wetland; the 26-acre Ruth Park Woods; and an Arboretum in University City’s Heman Park.

Currently, the Answer Service has 18 dedicated members. There are five crews who answer questions from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m, Monday through Friday, from the beginning of March to the end of October.

Lafayette Park was set aside from the St. Louis Common in 1836 and in 1851 established by city ordinance as one of the first public parks. It is considered by many historians to be the oldest urban park west of the Mississippi.

The Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC) is an established, 34-acre nature reserve dedicated to children’s nature education in central St.Louis county. The site and its staff are dedicated to promoting science teaching, learning environmental literacy, and stewardship of the Earth. The Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC) helps teachers engage their students in place-based education using local ecology as a framework for studying a variety of subjects.

Longview Farm Park has a group of dedicated volunteers who have been renovating, enlarging and enhancing the gardens that are around the historic home since May 2002.

Come work alongside Master Gardeners, volunteers and trained staff members to help maintain one of the world’s most prized public gardens. Tasks include planting, weeding, trimming and pruning. This is a Master Gardener trainee volunteer site.

Providing nature loving gardeners an opportunity to garden in a natural setting and learn about local native plants. Shaw Nature Reserve offers Master Gardeners opportunities to support the love of native landscaping in many ways.

The St. Louis Master Gardener Speakers Bureau is a public service program dedicated to providing quality horticultural information to the Metro St. Louis area.

Come join us in one of the St. Louis County Parks and volunteer alongside fellow Master Gardeners, other volunteers and the horticulture staff.

U City in Bloom is a volunteer not-for-profit organization that plants and maintains over 200 flower gardens throughout University City.