The University of Illinois Master Gardener program is celebrating 50 years. “We are incredibly proud of the growth in the Illinois Extension Master Gardener program and the impact it has made over the past 50 years,” Candice Anderson, state Master Gardener specialist, stated in a release. “Our volunteers are the core of our program and each one is passionate about making gardening accessible to everyone across Illinois and serving their communities in impactful ways.”
It often seems like necessity is the mother of invention, and one might say that of the creation of Master Gardener programs that are now available nationwide through individual state Extensions.
The program—which trains volunteers in a variety of horticultural and arbor topics that they share with the public—has its roots in the Northwest. In the early 1970s, several Washington State University Extension agents noticed they were receiving a lot of phone calls asking for advice on home garden maintenance.
According to a University of Illinois Extension news release on the subject, “They devised a plan to educate volunteers on the science of gardening and then to disperse the information to the public. Their idea blossomed and branched out, eventually inspiring the spread of the Master Gardener program to all 50 states.”
The release notes that in 1975, a former Extension horticulture specialist and state Master Gardener named Floyd Giles created Illinois’ first Master Gardener program. It was based in Will County and neighboring Chicagoland, and DuPage and Cook counties. The first training session was held in a Des Plaines post office.
Jamie Viebach, a U of I Extension horticulture educator for DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties who teachers Master Gardener classes, went even further back in time, outlining that in the 1800s, specific “land-grant” universities—institutions that were formed to educate people in practical fields such as agriculture, home economics and mechanical arts—began creating Extensions, “to be an ‘extension’ of the university out into the community,” predominantly in the area of agriculture and farming.
That was “back in the days of the mule and plow,” she said with a chuckle, adding that agents were stationed at Extension offices and would hear from farmers about their concerns—perhaps insect- or crop-related—then report back to their respective Extension offices.
In turn, Viebach noted, the agents would then go back to the farmers with resources and/or techniques/solutions to help them deal with those issues.
“The goal was to teach agriculture, science and engineering,” she said, to help farmers “learn new and better techniques for farming.”
Extension Master Gardener programs were formed when “agents—we now call ourselves educators—were becoming overwhelmed” with requests for horticultural assistance beyond farming, Viebach mentioned.
There was “a need to help [people] out without having to hire more staff,” she added.
As an example, Viebach said, in 2024 alone, Master Gardeners spent over 7,500 hours volunteering, with a value of more than $200,000 in paid time.
The Master Gardeners undergo 40 hours of training by specialists and educators such as Viebach, in such areas as horticulture, insects, diseases, grasses, woody and herbaceous ornamentals, and fruits and vegetables.
Upon completion of the program, Master Gardener trainees must give 40 volunteer hours, with the first 24 of those hours spent staffing the Master Gardener Help Desk.
Viebach said the help desk receives questions of all types, “We go beyond agriculture, especially in these urban areas.”
“I never know what I’m going to be asked,” she said, so it is “one of the most fun parts of the job.”
“I get to learn alongside our clients,” Viebach added.
Master Gardeners further offer their services in such areas as speaking to groups or assisting with community gardens.
Viebach said that in 2024 alone, community gardens donated nearly 3,000 pounds of produce to local food pantries.
Elmhurst resident Nancy Shonts has been a Master Gardener for seven years, saying that her parents and grandparents had large gardens, so “I grew up gardening,” and she has a large garden herself.
After retiring, “I knew I wanted to volunteer to help my community,” she continued, and decided to become a Master Gardner.
Shonts worked at the Help Desk in Naperville and at several different gardens in the area; volunteered for the Elmhurst Garden Walk, the DuPage County Care Center and the Naperville Giving Garden, among others; led a Tree Walk for 26 grade-school children; and recently completed her Tree Identification certification.
Karen Pachyn, also from Elmhurst, has been a Master Gardener since 2009. Like Shonts, she comes from a gardening family and wanted to expand her horticultural knowledge.
She also volunteered at the county care center, and has led a team of volunteers who worth with developmentally disabled individuals at We Grow Dreams in West Chicago—a working greenhouse that provides job training and employment to its team members.
Pachyn has worked with students at Wheaton Warrenville High School’s Transition Program, has given garden tours at Cantigny Park, along with her husband has helped plant a native garden at her church and has worked with the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition and the Elmhurst Park District, among others.
Both Master Gardeners say they value the camaraderie of other like-minded gardeners, and Schonts related that she enjoys spending time in required continuing education, “which is thoroughly enjoyable to learn new things about gardening.”
“I love working with other Master Gardeners,” Pachyn shared. “I feel like I’ve found ‘my people.’ They are a great group of really nice people with big hearts who just want to do good.”
And, she noted, because of her training, “I’ve tried to share that with our Elmhurst community in a number of ways.”
Viebach shares their enthusiasm for sharing gardening knowledge and the important role Master Gardeners serve in their communities.
The volunteers “are teaching others how to grow their own flowers, their own food,” she commented. “I really love the Master Gardener program; a program that connects people, who are passionate about gardening, with each other and the community. It’s a win-win-win all around.”
“We help others learn to grow,” Viebach summed up. “The important thing is the ‘learn.’”
For more information about the Master Gardener program in DuPage County, visit https://extension.illinois.edu/dkk/dupage-county-master-gardeners.
Viebach also has a blog at https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/over-garden-fence.
