(05/19/25) HAMMOND, La. — Across the state, Louisiana Master Gardeners are building vegetable gardens in elementary schools, beautifying public spaces with landscaping and lending their green thumbs to a variety of projects.

In 2024, more than 2,500 volunteers gave 83,391 hours to their communities through the LSU AgCenter Louisiana Master Gardener Program.

Last week, the AgCenter celebrated their hard work with Louisiana Master Gardener Appreciation Day at the Hammond Research Station with a day of garden tours and educational lectures from horticulture researchers.

“Master Gardeners, they have an interest in gardening, and they have an interest in giving back to the community,” said Sara Shields, an AgCenter horticulture agent and the Louisiana Master Gardener Program coordinator. “They enjoy learning new information about different horticulture topics. So, this is a chance just to give back to them for all their efforts.”

Master Gardeners commit to extensive training, developing practical knowledge in horticulture before serving their communities. In their first year, they must volunteer for 40 hours. In subsequent years, they serve at least 20 hours to maintain the title of Master Gardener.

The Louisiana Master Gardener Program began in East Baton Rouge Parish in 1994 before expanding across Louisiana in 1998. Today, 29 Louisiana Master Gardener Programs operate statewide.

Louisiana Master Gardeners work in their communities to educate schoolchildren and adults alike. They perform outreach at festivals and fairs, teach classes at libraries and beautify public spaces by landscaping parish and city properties. In the past five years, Louisiana Master Gardeners have given an average of 68,133 volunteer hours to their communities, a value of more than $2 million.

“What I have found with the Master Gardeners is that they are able to reach a wider audience through their volunteer efforts than I could ever reach,” said Clark Robertson, an AgCenter horticulture agent who coordinates the Master Gardener Program in Livingston Parish. “It would take three or four agents working full time to do what they're doing.”

In Ascension Parish, Advanced Master Gardener Richard Babin volunteers in schools to develop gardens that help children learn about nutrition and science. He helps teachers and administrators sketch their garden beds and plan their crops, and he gets his hands dirty planting, weeding and harvesting alongside the kids.

“They like cherry tomatoes and carrots,” Babin said as he toured a sun garden at the Hammond Research Station. “They like things they can pick and wash up and eat.”

An instrument technician at an industrial plant before he retired, Babin wanted to spend time gardening when he started Master Gardener classes in 2009. He had an interest in gardening, but he joined the program “to learn to do it the right way.”

“It's a good outside activity for exercise,” he said. “You don't have to go very far to get it. You work at your own pace, and when you get tired, you quit and go inside.”

The Master Gardener Program’s benefits to the community are easy to enumerate, but the program positively affects participants, too.

Lona Gros joined the Pointe Coupee Parish Master Gardeners three years ago. Gros and her husband had renovated a home on False River and planted a pecan grove. However, the property lacked landscaping, and Gros fondly remembered her mother’s pride while showing off flower beds she planted around their home.

“That is really what planted my desire for gardening,” Gros said.

Three years ago, she decided to join the Master Gardener Program to expand her knowledge. Gros learned a great deal about horticulture, but she gained more than an education. She appreciates the camaraderie of the group, especially after her husband passed away in early 2024.

“I ended up with a group of friends,” she said. “I think that's what I enjoy the most — my gardening friends and hanging out with them.”

That type of bond between Master Gardeners occurs often, Shields said.

“Master Gardeners is a great opportunity for individuals who have that interest in horticulture to be around individuals of like mind,” Shields said. “They enjoy the same topics, and they really do get to be a small community, and they really form bonds and friendship with each other as they go when they serve the community.”

To learn more about the Louisiana Master Gardener Program, visit https://www.lsuagcenter.com/LAMasterGardener.

Caroline Blanchard, trials coordinator at the AgCenter Hammond Research Station, gives a tour of the station’s sun garden to Master Gardeners at the Louisiana Master Gardener Appreciation Day on Thursday, May 15. Photo by Kyle Peveto/LSU AgCenter

The Advanced Louisiana Master Gardener Program includes an additional level of courses focused on communication skills, nutrient management, plant diagnostics, integrated pest management, water quality and irrigation. Recent graduates of the advanced course were recognized at the Louisiana Master Gardener Appreciation Day on Thursday, May 15. Back row, from left, Sara Shields, coordinator of the Louisiana Master Gardener Program; David Breaux; Sterling Sightler; Louise Mouton Johnson; Ed Wilhelm; Usha Ramadhyani; Melinda Yantis; and Mariah Simoneaux, assistant coordinator of the Louisiana Master Gardener Program. Front row, Laura Boland, Vanessa Sam, Peggy L. Howard and Laurie Ricchiuti. Photo by Kyle Peveto/LSU AgCenter

LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Mary Helen Ferguson explains her blueberry evaluation program at the Louisiana Master Gardener Appreciation Day on Thursday, May 15. Photo by Kyle Peveto/LSU AgCenter

LSU AgCenter fruit and nut specialist Michael Polozola demonstrates a technique for grafting citrus trees at the Louisiana Master Gardener Appreciation Day on Thursday, May 15. Photo by Kyle Peveto/LSU AgCenter