Master Gardener logo, green on white

Master Gardeners are trained volunteers who share their gardening knowledge through CCE.

Master Gardener Volunteers potting plants at Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

Master Gardener Volunteers potting plants at Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

Master Gardener volunteers dividing plants at the Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

Master Gardener volunteers dividing plants at the Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

No fancy high tech label making machines here- volunteers hand write the botanical name of plants on labels. This year they potted up over 2000 plants! Wow! — at Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

Volunteers hand write plant botanical names on labels while potting up over 2000 plants!

Volunteers verify spellings of plant names and look up information to include on our signs and plant lists. — at Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

Volunteers verify plant name spellings and other information for plant sale signs and plant lists.

Perennials arrive in clumps, freshly dug from Master Gardener Volunteers' gardens, ready to be divided. — at Dutchess County Farm & Home Center.

Perennials arrive in clumps, freshly dug from Master Gardener Volunteers' gardens.

Master Gardeners

Master Gardener volunteers identify plant and insect samples, diagnose plant samples and perform soil pH testing in our Horticulture Diagnostic Lab.

The CCEDC Horticulture Hotline is open Wednesdays from 9-noon, April through October. The Hotline number is 845-677-5067. 

Samples for diagnosis may be dropped off at the Dutchess County Farm & Home Center M-F, 8:30 AM- 4 PM. Diagnosis results will be mailed within 7 days of receipt. Please call our office if you have any questions about submitting samples 845-677-8223 x115 before coming to the Farm & Home Center.

Master Gardeners are a group of trained volunteers who work in partnership with their county Cooperative Extension office to extend information throughout the county. The first MG program was started in Washington state in 1972. Dutchess County was the first county in NYS (1975) to train MG volunteers. Forty six states now have MG programs with over 23,000 people participating nationwide. More than 1100 of these MGs are from NYS.

There are currently 80 active MG volunteers in Dutchess County.

       2022 MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEER TRAINING IS PLANNED FOR FALL OF 2022. FOLLOW THE LINKS BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO APPLY.
APPLICATION DEADLINE IS MAY 15, 2022 

Our program is funded through volunteer fundraising efforts and from donations from the public. To make a tax deductible gift (we are a 501(c)(3) organization) , please send your check to Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County, 2715 Rt 44, Suite 1, Millbrook, NY, 12545. Checks should be made out to CCEDC and sent to the attention of Francheska Kuilan. Please be sure to include a note stating that you would like your gift to be directed towards the Community Horticulture Program (Master Gardeners). Thank you!

Last updated April 29, 2022