Lessons I have learned from the WSU Master Gardener Program
By Julie Banken
WSU Chelan/Douglas County Master Gardener
One of my favorite parts of being a WSU master gardener is participating in our virtual plant clinic via Zoom. People from Chelan and Douglas counties send us emails and photos with questions about their gardening problems, and a group of master gardeners gathers online each week to discuss possible solutions.
Questions like, “What is killing my beloved hydrangea?” or “Why are the needles on my spruce turning brown?” inspire detective-like discussions about everything from soil nutrition and planting practices to irrigation and insects.
This great Zoom meeting of the minds is where I learn the most about gardening. Veteran clinicians can spot clues in photographs like Sherlock Holmes at a crime scene. Dying hydrangea? Most likely the cold snap in January. Brown needles? Could be winter scorch, an irrigation issue or spider mites. If debate produces no consensus, they don’t give up; they ask the client for more information. Diagnosing plant problems seems elementary to them. I remain Watson to their Holmes, carefully paying attention and trying diligently to remember everything they say.
I joined the Master Gardener program two years ago. Our training included readings, assignments, and lectures from WSU scientists and local experts about all kinds of garden topics. We identified weeds, dissected flowers, assessed soil texture, and practiced pruning shrubs. We learned about firewise landscaping, the signs and symptoms of plant diseases, and the best options for managing insect pests. These classes did not make me feel like a gardening expert at all. Instead, I experienced the classic paradox of knowledge: the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.
At the end of our training, we took a diagnosis field trip to Rocky Reach Dam Park. Twenty plant problems throughout the grounds were numbered on a map, and it was our job to identify them. The grounds at Rocky Reach Dam have always appeared perfect to me, so finding even one plant problem among the manicured landscaping there was a surprise. The veteran master gardeners leading our field trip spotted them all. They pointed out cases of root strangulation, limb die-back, herbicide damage, and evidence of slugs, aphids, and leaf-cutter bees. Completing the master gardener training had a surprising effect. My thumb didn’t magically turn green. Instead, I suddenly saw all kinds of problems in my yard. Wherever I went, in fact, I saw trees pruned incorrectly, dehydrated plants, invasive ornamentals and plants in the wrong place. What was once invisible had become glaringly obvious.
Is there a name for this phenomenon? When we replaced our roof a few years ago, I had to spend a lot of time thinking about roofing materials. I had never even noticed roofs before, but suddenly, I saw them everywhere. Unlike with roofing, however, I wouldn’t choose to unsee the plant problems that I have learned about in the Master Gardener program. Now that I realize they are there, I am constantly on the lookout for them.
A fellow master gardener has a T-shirt that warns, “Easily distracted by plants.” That is me, too. I am also easily distracted by insects and fungus and worms and even the way plant diseases manifest. To me, a plant problem is as interesting as the plant itself. Every leaf curl, discolored spot, or stunted growth is a mystery waiting to be solved. Being a WSU Master Gardener is far less about achieving a perfect yard and much more about understanding the forces at play, both the ones we can control and those we can’t.
A WSU Chelan and Douglas County Master Gardener column appears weekly in The Wenatchee World. To learn more, visit bit.ly/MGchelandouglas or call (509) 667-6540.