Educational Outreach Programs

Arbor Day Program
Tree Seeding: In the spring, we plant seedlings at the City of Norfolk Nursery in the St Bride’s area of Chesapeake. They are grown there for a season until we give them away to the general public in the fall.

Tree Give-away: Trees are given away at several sites in the City on the First Saturday of October from 9am to 2pm. It is an opportunity to assist the general public and make them aware of the VCE, NMGV and the Norfolk Arbor Day Committee. Sites may include: Norfolk Botanical Gardens, Zoo , Five Points Community Market, Home Depot, Oceanview Hardware, Fred Heutte Center, Oakleaf Forest Community, AME Zion Church on Campostella Road. 

Street Tree Inventory Updating The present street tree inventory project can trace its roots back to a one-week training session in October 1999 for twenty-five Master Gardeners from seven area cities. The Norfolk Division of Parks and Urban Forestry assisted Virginia Cooperative Extension in launching this new regional Master Gardener Tree Steward program. This program provided 40 hours of advanced training in the care of trees. Eleven area professionals, including Norfolk’s City Forester and Landscape Program Coordinator, provided instruction. Master Gardeners received classroom and field training in tree morphology and anatomy, tree identification, plant propagation, tree planting, training and pruning, plant nutrition, soils and plant site selection, tree insect and disease management, tree protection during construction and hazardous tree identification.
In exchange for the training, the new Tree Steward committed to an equal number of community service hours providing some type of public tree care assistance in their community. Seven out of the twenty-five attendees at the 1999 Tree Steward training were from Norfolk, which was the beginning of our Norfolk street tree inventory project.

Spring and Fall Plant Sale SPRING PLANT SALE (3rd weekend in May): This is an opportunity to raise money for our projects and support the Hope House Foundation. It is held each May during the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival. Volunteers may be asked to pickup and deliver plants, work the sale, or work at the Plant Doctors booth. The Master Gardeners get to interact with the general public and respond to any horticultural and gardening questions.
FALL PLANT SALE : This is another opportunity for the NMGVs to raise funds for our treasury. Plants sold are grown and donated by NMGVs. Our Plant Doctors have a booth to answer any public gardening questions.

HELP-LINE Maintained Monday through Friday 9:00 to Noon, April 1 through October 31

Phone#: 757-683-2855 or via email: Helpline@nmgv.org

Our most important function is to provide Horticultural assistance to the general public. If you have a horticultural question or concern the NMGVs have a Help Line phone at the VCE office available to answer your questions. We research the problem and provide answers with materials and assistance from our Norfolk Extension agent and the Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Also, check our Plant Doctor section for publications and answers to Frequently Asked Questions for assistance.

NORFOLK MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEER TRAINING PROGRAM
Every February thru April the current NMGVs have a training program for new members of the community that are interested in joining our association. It is a 10 week program held every Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 8 am until noon. If you are interested in becoming a member, Click Here for more information and an application.

FRED HEUTTE CENTER GARDENS  The Fred Heutte Center is located in the Ghent area of Norfolk, VA. The gardens are maintained by the NMGVs and have a great variety of herbs, perennials and vegetables.
We are there every Thursday mornings 9:00 to noon or as scheduled by volunteer coordinators.
The NMGVs also host 2 public tours of this garden each year.
For more about the garden: www.fredheutte.org

Hermitage "Living Shoreline" Docent program  This Project located at The Hermitage Museum is to educate, share, and inform the public about the benefits and process of building and restoring a shoreline wetlands ecosystem. The Hermitage “living shoreline” project is becoming an urban example to residents and businesses along the water.
Norfolk Master Gardener docents will be available to answer questions about the wetlands ecosystem. A schedule of dates/times will be available soon or ask the Hermitage if a docent is on duty upon your visit.
Visit the Hermitage's Website for more about the Shoreline project and this beautiful museum. Information is noted under the Gardens & Grounds section of their website.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens Docent & Plant Doctors The NMGVs conduct walking tours, answer horticultural questions and offer short workshops for visitors at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens (NBG) located in Norfolk, VA. Topics will vary according to the NBG garden area. Check with the NBG front desk to find out where an NMGV is located that day in the gardens. The Doctor is now In at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens... Don't let your gardening dilemmas continue to grow ask the Plant Doctors. They are now able to help you diagnose your plant problems Every third Saturday, starting July 15,2006 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Fred Heutte Horticultural Library at the gardens. Opening September 2006 at the gardens is the new World Of Wonders children area. Watch for more details as to where we will be located as the WOW opens. For more information about the garden visit their website at: www.nbgs.org

Oriental Gardens at Norfolk's Pagoda A new NMGV work project involving educational garden tours and garden maintenance at the Pagoda in the Freemason neighborhood in downtown Norfolk. The garden, which surrounds the Marine Observation tower (Pagoda) was constructed in 2000 under the auspices of the city of Norfolk and the Friends of the Pagoda and Oriental Garden Foundation. Work days are the 2nd Friday & 4th Saturday of the month from 9am to 11am. Tour information to be advised. Please feel free to come and ask us questions on our work days.

Virginia Barnyard garden at the Virginia Zoo Park  A demonstration organic garden project at the Virginia Zoological Park. The vegetables and plants grow year-round. NMGVs explain the concept of heirloom seeds and plants to everyday visitors to the Zoo. Our project co-leader Gill Gillespie was awarded Volunteer of the Year 2005 for the Horticulture Department by the Virginia Zoo for all his efforts on this project, Click Here to read about his achievement.

Weyanoke Wildlife Sanctuary The property is managed by the Cape Henry Audubon Society which is located at the west end of Gates Avenue. An opportunity to learn about native flowers, plants, and wildlife while maintaining the sanctuary. NMGVs host 2 public tours of this garden each year.

The Audubon Society and Norfolk Master Gardeners host a celebration of Earth Day, with an open house at the Weyanoke Wildlife Sanctuary.

Elizabeth Francis, Project Leader, reports that Weyanoke and the Cape Henry Audubon Society have been honored as a new commitment level River Star of the Elizabeth River Project. Next is Achievement Level River Star, and they are working on the requirements for that award. Bike trail plans are being developed for the future.

VIRGINIA FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW (January)
An opportunity to work at the Virginia Flower and Garden Show at the Virginia Beach Pavilion. Our plant doctor's have a booth to answer horticulture questions and we help staff the children’s activities and VCE display booths.

VA TECH DISPLAY GARDENS AT HRAREC
This garden is free and open to the public and is the showcase for horticultural research at the Hampton Roads Agriculture Research and Extension Center (HRAREC). The center is located on Diamond Springs Road in Virginia Beach. We participate with area MGV's on the maintenance of these specialized theme garden beds and host tours of this garden each year, including the weed display shown at the Annual Community Gardening Festivals held annually in September.