Master gardeners volunteer for wide range of activities
Johnson County’s Extension Master Gardener program, or EMG, at the Johnson County K-State Extension and Research Office is celebrating its 45th year in 2025.
Participants are avid gardening volunteers trained through the Extension Office in Olathe. In return for their designation and intensive education, master gardeners are required to spend a certain number of volunteer hours on projects in the county of their choosing. Opportunities include:
- Maintaining Johnson County’s nine demonstration gardens.
- Volunteering at public educational outreach throughout the community, including the annual Healthy Yards Expo and the biennial Public Garden Tour. The next tour is in 2026.
- Assisting at the annual Johnson County Fair and supporting judges in the fair’s horticulture flower and fruit/vegetable sections.
- Participating in a monthly book club to discuss garden- related books.
- Providing lectures in a speaker’s bureau and presenting gardening classes.
- Staffing the year-round Gardening Hotline at 913-715-7050 and/or answering questions via email, phone or walk-ins from March 1 to Oct. 31.
Master gardeners come from all walks of life. Their common bond is a love of gardening, volunteering, friendships and sharing gardening information.
“Gardeners love sharing information,” said Marsha Ruse, a master gardener since 2007.
In 2024, master gardeners provided 55,615 volunteer hours in community service. Since its beginning in 1980, they have donated more than 1 million volunteer hours.
Many of the volunteers completing the EMG program are already home gardeners, past or present, with years of experience.
Wendy Clay has been gardening for many years for many reasons: self-confidence and sense of accomplishment, peace of mind and purpose, physical activity and family time, and working with and enjoying of nature.
“It’s an escape for me,” she said. “We learn by doing. It’s a lifelong journey.” Clay became a master gardener in 2001.
Larry Justice was raised on a farm that always had a family garden. The gardening interest continued as an adult working in the corporate world and involving many moves.
“In every state I lived in, I planted a garden,” he said with a smile. Justice has been a master gardener for 19 years.
There currently are 523 active master gardeners who have donated 790,078 hours in community service. They span all ages. Many volunteers are retired. The longest servicing EMG is Nancy Branum, a graduate in the Class of 1988. She has earned 10,128 volunteer hours of service and is still active at age 78.
The EMG program continually seeks volunteers with interests in horticulture and gardening with various expertise and backgrounds.
There are no age restrictions. If they are accepted and meet the required classes and volunteer requirements, anyone can become a master gardener.
Applications for the EMG Class of 2026 will be available May 1 with a submission deadline of June 27. Enrollment is limited to about 30-35 applicants.
An EMG orientation class is scheduled on May 1 with details available by contacting the Extension Office.
Once accepted into the program, volunteers are required to attend in-person basic training classes from 9 a.m. to noon every Thursday, starting Sept. 4 through Dec. 11. Horticulture Subject Matter training will be conducted statewide virtually over Zoom, from 1 to 4 p.m. Both sessions are required. Classes will not meet Nov. 27 during Thanksgiving.
Class fee is $125 to cover the cost of materials, trainer’s fees, meals and other expenses.
More information is available by calling 913-715-7000 or visiting johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/extension-master-gardeners.