Dates set for Panhandle Master Gardener Training Program

Nebraska Extension is offering the Master Gardener Training Program to provide volunteers with research-based horticulture education, which prepares them to share their knowledge with others in the community.

Training sessions start in February and are open to anyone who is interested in plants and is willing to volunteer.

In exchange for the training they receive, Master Gardeners are asked to volunteer an equal amount of time back to their local communities. They work closely with Extension educators in the local office in solving problems or giving information. They also give talks or workshops to the public or write news articles about various phases of horticulture in which they are knowledgeable. Some may talk on care of house plants, others on flowers, vegetable gardening or other horticulture-related subjects.

Participation in Master Gardener Training is $35 for either advanced or beginner sessions. The cost to attend both advanced and beginner sessions is $50.  Individual sessions are $12 each.  Participants can purchase an optional Master Gardener Handbook as a reference.  At the end of the training sessions, Master Gardeners are required to give 40 hours of volunteer service to their local County Extension Office or their local community.

Anyone who is interested in participating or who has questions is encouraged to contact Gary Stone, Extension Educator in Scotts Bluff County, at (308) 632-1230; Karen DeBoer, Extension Educator in Cheyenne-Kimball-Banner Counties at (308) 254-4455; or John Thomas, Extension Educator in Box Butte County, at (308) 762-5616.

Please pre-register by Jan. 30 by calling your local county extension office. Residents of other states are welcome as well.

A series of six training sessions for beginning Master Gardeners will take place on Tuesday evenings from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Alliance Extension Office, the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, and at the Western Nebraska Community College in Sidney. This training is designed for new Master Gardeners and will cover basic horticultural information. It will start on Feb. 3 and conclude on March 3. The training will be offered via the internet, with local UNL Extension Educators at each of the sites to help answer questions.

The topics are as follows:

• Feb. 3:  Water-wise Landscapes and Residential Rain Gardens

• Feb. 10:  Pruning Deciduous and Evergreen Trees and Shrubs

• Feb. 17:  Insects – Beneficials in the Garden and Landscape and Vegetable Insect Pests

• Feb. 24:  Wildlife Damage Management

• March 3:  Technology in the Garden and Landscape, and, Photography for Beauty and Diagnostics

• March 10:  Preparing for Emerald Ash Boer:  Identification, Management and Treatment Options and Tree Planting Selections Now and Post EAB

Advanced Master Gardener training sessions will be Feb. 23 and March 2, 9 and 27 at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center, 4502 Avenue I, Scottsbluff, starting at 10 a.m. and concluding at 3 p.m. The topics are designed for advanced Master Gardeners; however, they are open to everyone and are encouraged to participate.

Topics include:

• Feb. 23:  Plants with Altitude – Native Plant Landscaping and, Collecting and Starting  Seeds

• March 2:  What Happened in 2014 and, Hands-On Weed ID Quiz and, Food Preservation and Freezing

• March 9: Soil Types and, Composting and, Tree Care

• March 27: Turf and Landscape Topics with Kim Todd and, Storage of Fruits and Vegetables and, Garden Insects.