Shelby County Master Gardener Program
Master Gardeners Program
Master Gardeners generally share a passion for gardening, a desire to teach others to garden, and a commitment to complete Kentucky Cooperative Extension training at their local Extension office. Master Gardeners continuously grow their passion for gardening by taking garden tours, participating in ongoing classes, and attending the annual KEMG conference. They are committed volunteers; sharing their love for growing plants, helping people, and nurturing the community.
- Get Involved!
- Class Schedule
- History
- Tim McClure Botanical Garden
You don’t need to have any prior knowledge of plants to take the classes!
The road to becoming a Master Gardener is two-part:
- Participate and pass the Master Gardener training program.
The Master Gardener program is a training program with 12-16 classes providing basic horticulture training in several topics (Volunteerism, Botany, Soils, Pathology, Entomology, and Pesticides). At the end of the training program, a final exam will be given worth 100 points. The program is designed to teach the basics of horticulture so that potential volunteers can make an educated and effective difference in their community.
2 . Volunteer 40 hours within the first year after the program’s completion.
Volunteer opportunities will be offered throughout the year.
The cost for the program in Shelby County is $85 per person to cover the materials for the classes and is non-refundable. If you plan to share a binder with another person the collective cost for both participants is $120
2025 Class Topics and Dates
You MUST register and pay for the program to take all of the classes. They are not open to the general public, but similar classes for the public are often offered throughout the year.
Feb 11- Volunteerism/Introduction
Feb 25- Plant Parts and Terminology
March 11- Caring for Fruit Trees
March 25- Plant Growth and Development
April 8-Vegetable Gardening
April 22-The Properties of Soil
May 6- Plant Nutrition and Composting
May 20- Diagnosing Plant Problems
June 3- Plant Pathology
The Master Gardener Program began in 1973 in response to a rapidly increasing urban population. Originally, a single Extension Agent would work together with a few hundred farm families, but as years passed, much of this traditional farmland disappeared - having been replaced with numerous subdivisions. The number of families that an Extension Office served had exploded in numbers - with many urban residents unfamiliar with agricultural practices.
By the 1960s, the concerns of Extension had shifted towards the problems faced by urban residents; seeking to educate and support the general public by providing up-to-date, unbiased, scientifically based agriculture information in a manner they could easily understand and use. To make a strong, long-lasting impact and reach more people, Extension Agents started to professionally train local volunteers with a passion for horticulture in return for a set yearly number of volunteer hours helping Extension reach out in educating and enriching the community with horticulture-related needs. Thus began the Master Gardeners, one of the largest volunteer organizations in the country.
717 Burks Branch Road, Shelbyville, KY 40065
The Tim McClure Botanical Garden began as a project of the Shelby County Master Gardeners under the guidance of Tim McClure, who was the Horticulture Extension Agent for 9 years. It was established and maintained for the education and beatification of Clear Creek Park and the local community. Over 60 varieties of trees and shrubs are on display, as well as an herb garden, perennial flowers, bulbs, and annuals.
The Tim McClure Botanical Garden is a free public garden open to anyone interested in visiting. It observes the same hours as Clear Creek Park (the property the garden is on), and is usually open from dawn until dusk (closing is usually around 7 pm).
