OSU Extension Volunteers would love to answer your questions
With gardening season upon us again, how quickly comes the questions. Is this a bad bug or good bug? What’s wrong with my cabbage plant? How do you transplant petunias? Can I grow these two plants side by side? How much water is too much?
To help you with your garden questions the Master Gardener Volunteers (MGVs) Helpline will be available again this year through The Ohio State University Extension Office in Paulding. Community members can call, email or stop in with a sample plant or bug for volunteers to look at and diagnose. They will help you figure out what the problem is and answer your questions. If not, they will refer you to one of our Ohio State University experts. Even better this service is FREE!
These volunteers address the everyday (and not so every day) questions encountered by gardeners. The helpline is staffed by trained Master Gardener volunteers who have completed rigorous program requirements and have communally docked hundreds of volunteer hours working in gardens, answering landscape and environmental questions over the phone, through email and in person at numerous horticultural and environmental events.
The Helpline creates an open venue for anyone interested in gardening and gardening related activities. The vast knowledge of the Master Gardeners is backed by The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources research faculty, allowing for our call center operators to answer your questions with the latest and most pertinent information. If a Master Gardener is unable to answer your question(s), you can be assured that they will direct you to other resources.
The Master Gardener Helpline/helpline will be open from May until mid-October from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. weekly on Tuesdays at The Ohio State University Extension Office in Paulding. The Helpline gives you the opportunity to get answers to your various gardening, insect, tree, flower, herb, wildlife, pond, landscaping and fruit questions from Master Gardener Volunteers. Questions can be answered by telephone, walk-in or email. The Helpline number is (419)399-8225. You may also stop in at the Extension Office between 9:00 am-12:00 pm on Tuesdays to meet face to face with a Master Gardener Volunteer to answer your questions.
Prepare First Before You Call
When calling the Helpline for assistance be prepared to supply as much information as possible. The more data you can provide, the easier it is for the trained volunteer to assist. In addition to telephoning the Helpline, personal visits with plant samples are encouraged. Seeing the problem in many cases makes diagnosing the horticulture concern easier.
Email the Helpline and Attach Photos
E-mailing your question is very helpful in identifying a plant or plant growth problem. When e-mailing, it is also a good idea to attached low resolution photos to help see the problem. Remember the old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Walk-ins Welcome — But Bring Large Samples
If bringing a sample to the Paulding County Extension Office, located at 503 Fairground Drive, in Paulding, be sure to bring a large enough sample. This means a branch 1 to 2 feet in length, a piece of sod the size of a dinner plate or several leaves. Samples that are completely dead are not as useful as portions of plants that are just beginning to show symptoms or withering.
Not all questions or problems have an easy answer or solution but the volunteer Extension Master Gardeners will make every attempt to help. In addition to their personal knowledge, the volunteers also utilize Extension’s extensive horticultural reference library.
As part of The Ohio State University, College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, the group has a network of resources available. Numerous informational fact sheets, an extensive library and electronic technology assist in helping to find practical solutions.
Call or e-mail the Extension Master Gardener Helpline, (419) 399-8225 or noggle.17@osu.edu . The Master Gardeners are ready to assist you with research-based, non-biased solutions to your growing concerns. In addition to the gardening season hours, the Helpline is open all year round but may not be staffed in person.
Don’t just trust anyone with your growing concerns but go directly to the experts for the best research-based answer to your question.
The Extension Master Gardener Volunteer program is sponsored by The Ohio State University and Extension programs. Extension Master Gardener volunteers receive a base training of horticulture information and continued training to help prepare them for this project, as well as many others sponsored by the organization.
Extension Master Gardener volunteers come from all walks of life, but all have in common their love of gardening and sharing information. The Paulding County Extension program currently has 14 volunteers. During 2013 more than 1,000 hours were donated to community service projects including the services of the Master Gardener Helpline.
