A Learning Garden: Local Master Gardeners Are Here to Help Area Gardeners Improve Skills

If you have not been to the Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden at the Lane Agri-Park on John Rice Boulevard, it is well worth your time to walk through it. You can visit it anytime, and enjoy its lushness and ideas for your garden.

You could find a Master Gardener in it during the Farmers Market mornings on Tuesdays and Fridays through the fall.

Nancy Nelson is an established Rutherford County Master Gardener. The “gardens started in 2010 with a butterfly garden, then herb garden added, then a class project with veggie garden,” Nelson said. “The purpose of garden is as a demonstration and teaching garden for the community. The Demonstration Gardens won the Search for Excellence award in 2014 for demo gardens across the state.”

That award is determined by UT Extension Master Gardeners.

A rainwater holding tank. Collecting tanks are at the downspouts at the pavilion

My class added the rain barrels. The shed within the garden area is named for one of my classmates, who was always assisting with the builds and the projects.

Reggie Reeves, another longtime Master Gardener, tells the Pulse that this year “the Demonstration Gardens will be featured on the Discovery Center’s annual Secret Garden Tour on June 4th and 5th.”

Tickets to this event, which showcases other gardens throughout the county, are available at the Discovery Center or at explorethedc.org/events/sgt2022.

Master Gardeners share a love of gardening, sharing information, studying techniques and plants, sharing knowledge and volunteering. I received my five-year Master Gardeners pin at the last pre-COVID Award Banquet. I will personally tell anyone that it is a great group and does help contribute to gardening success.

Composting

“I have enjoyed being a Master Gardener with RCMG so much. Great people and I learn something new every time I’m with them. What a great adventure in learning,” Sherry Mosier said.

Applications for the Master Gardener class usually open in October with a Dec. 1 deadline. Follow the group on Facebook: Master Gardeners of Rutherford County, TN.