Laurens County Hosts a new Hybrid Master Gardener Course

September 20, 2023

SC Master Gardener Logo

Bryan Smith

Area Extension Agent-Agricultural Engineer

The Laurens County Extension Office is currently hosting a hybrid Master Gardener course.  The Master Gardener course began on August 15, 2023 and will meet each Tuesday through December 5.  This year’s course has 13 students.

Students in the course will complete 16 three-hour classes on subjects including lawn care, vegetable gardening, urban tree care, soils and plant nutrition, tree fruits and small fruits, and many more.  Each class is presented by an Extension Agent or a Master Gardener graduate that has experience in the subject matter, which allows them to provide practical experience along with research-based information.

This year’s course is a hybrid model, which includes 8 in-person presentations and 12 presentations by video (20 presentations in total will be presented over the 16 week course).  The hybrid model is an attempt to provide the same training to Master Gardener students across the State so they will all have the same base knowledge in the “Core” subjects.  The in-person classes allow coordinators to tailor the course for each county’s needs by offering local topics most useful to their students.

After completing the course the students will provide 40 hours of community service over the next 12 months to become Certified Master Gardeners.

For more information about the program visit https://www.clemson.edu/extension/mg/ .