Garden tours may be open to the public or exclusive for Master Gardener members.  In years past we visited places like Big Bloomers, Stiles and Wade Garden, The Unique Plant, we toured the Plant Propagation facilities at The Institute in Danville, and Brent & Becky's Bulbs, to name a few.  Public tours will be posted on this web site in the near future.  Tours open to Master Gardener members only will be posted in the members section.

For more information about tours, please click here to contact us.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Local Offices

For information on other states offices and officials please go to: http://ext.vt.edu/

Read more: Spring to Green: Less Work, More Garden

History of Cooperative Extension

Prior to the Civil War, very few college curricula addressed agricultural problems that affected farmers. In 1862, Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act that provided for "land-grant universities" to educate citizens in agricultural and mechanical fields. In 1887, Congress passed the Hatch Act to provide facilities to the land grant universities to conduct agricultural research. In order to disseminate this new information, Congress passed the Smith Lever Act of 1914 for the establishment of Cooperative Extension offices. In Virginia, there are Extension offices in every county to "extend" to the public this research. Extension units in this state are closely linked to Virginia Tech and Virginia State University. The role of Extension agents is primarily educational. The Master Gardening Associations work in coordination with the Extension Agent in helping people solve their own problems though educational programs.

Danville Master Gardener Association

The first class graduated from the Danville Master Gardener program in June 1988. January 8, 1990 marked the charter of the Danville Master Gardener Association. The DMGA allows the graduates of the Master Gardener program to coordinate the activities of their mandate, continue adding to their knowledge base with lectures/seminars and socialize together. To date, over 275 of our local citizens have participated in the Master Gardener training program.

Becoming a VCE Certified Master Gardener

 Individuals who are interested in the Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardening training program should contact the Danville Master Gardeners Association President Billy Holley at (434) 799-5473.    

1. The training classes are held once a year. The training program consists of 50 hours of classroom training.
2. After completion of the classroom training the student becomes a Master Gardener Intern.
3. Once an intern, an individual must spend a minimum of 50 volunteer hours performing hands-on horticulture-based, educational programs that are arranged through the Extension office and/or the local Danville Master Gardener Association.
4. Upon completion of these steps, a certificate is issued from the Cooperative Extension to become a Certified VCE - Master Gardener.
5.  In order to maintain certified status, one must contribute 20 volunteer hours and 8 hours of ongoing education yearly through the variety of activities that are made available through the Extension Office and the local association.
6. To learn more about Danville Master Gardener training classes, click on the Join Us tab on this web site.

Podcast about Master Gardeners
Click her to view podcast about Master Gardeners with David Close, Virginia's State Master Gardener Coordinator