Do you love gardening and want to share that passion with your community? The UC Master Gardeners program might be just what you're looking for.

UC Master Gardeners is a volunteer program dedicated to helping Contra Costa residents with researched, science-based knowledge on home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices. It's a chance to keep learning and then turn around and share what you've learned with your neighbors.

Becoming a Master Gardener means about six months of training, followed by a commitment to passing your newfound knowledge on to the public as a volunteer. And there are so many ways to do that! Our outreach programs include a Help Desk and tables at local Farmer's Markets where you can answer gardeners' specific questions, webinars and presentations, and partnerships with community gardens and schools. We also offer a newsletter, a blog, and a website packed with information on sustainable gardening practices. Throughout Contra Costa County, our demonstration gardens showcase native plants, edible gardening, firewise landscaping, and water conservation tools—living classrooms for the whole community.

Our volunteers are a wonderfully diverse group. Each year we welcome a new class from across the county—people with full- or part-time jobs, retirees, folks with science or business backgrounds, and lifelong gardening enthusiasts. What they all share is curiosity and a desire to give back.

The class of 2026 has just graduated, and we're now looking ahead to the class of 2027! This new cohort will begin training in the fall and graduate next spring. The first step is attending an information session, this year held in late May and early June, where you'll receive an application for the program. Attendance at an information session is required to apply. Applications are usually due by late June, with acceptances going out in August.

To make sure you hear when registration for the information sessions opens, visit ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardener-program-contra-costa-county/become-uc-master-gardener-volunteer-contra, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the blue "Open Survey" button to add your name to the interest list for the 2026/2027 class.

Not ready to apply just yet? There are still great ways to get involved! Attend one of our events or visit one of our demonstration gardens: you can find them on our website at ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardener-program-contra-costa-county. You can also explore our blog at  ucanr.edu/blog/hort-coco-uc-master-gardener-program-contra-costa for seasonal tips, plant recommendations, and pest management strategies — or subscribe to receive "News to Grow By”,  a seasonal newsletter that provides additional research-based gardening information and stories of the amazing work UC Master Gardener Volunteers do in the community. Read what’s new here: https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardener-program-contra-costa-county/news-grow

We’d love to grow with you!

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*Banner photo: class of 2026 in training, courtesy of Fletcher Oakes

*Photos of Our Garden in Walnut Creek courtesy of Greg Letts, UC Master Gardener
 

Help Desk of UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County (RDH)