By Debra Heleba, Extension Community Horticulture Program Director, University of Vermont
Did you receive a poinsettia as a gift and wonder how to extend its life through the winter? Is your favorite houseplant dropping its leaves? Or are you already thinking ahead to spring and want to know when to start your seeds indoors?
The University of Vermont (UVM) Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Helpline can answer all your home horticulture questions. Although the trained volunteers who staff the Helpline won’t be taking phone calls again until April 2025, the online Garden Helpline is open 24/7/365. You can go to go.uvm.edu/gardenquestion to post your question at any time.
When you submit your question, please provide as much detail as possible. Photos help, and you will find tips for submitting up to three per question on the website. Volunteers will research your question and provide science-based answers and additional resources via email within three to five business days.
So, who are these trained volunteers?
Currently, more than 30 UVM Extension Master Gardener volunteers staff the Helpline throughout the year. They are all graduates of the Vermont Extension Master Gardener program. After finishing the 16-week comprehensive gardening course, they completed a 40-hour internship to become certified.
As Helpline volunteers, they respond to a wide range of questions, even in winter, from beginning to experienced gardeners and homeowners who need answers about landscaping, backyard composting, and other topics. Although at this time of year, the majority of questions pertain to indoor gardening, houseplants, and preparing for the upcoming growing season, your questions don’t need to be pertinent to the season.
Did you get a soil test done in the fall? Volunteers can interpret the results and provide management recommendations for implementation this spring. Are you curious why your bush beans failed to sprout this past summer? They can help you find answers to that question as well.
Keep in mind that the Helpline can only respond to questions from Vermonters, but if you live out of state, you can find your Extension Master Gardener program at go.uvm.edu/mg-find. Extension Master Gardener volunteers cannot provide personal site visits to home gardens, nor can they respond to questions from commercial growers. As a commercial grower, you can submit plant samples and pest and disease questions to the UVM Plant Diagnostic Clinic at uvm.edu/extension/pdc.
The Garden Helpline is a free service provided by the UVM Extension Community Horticulture Program, which offers training and support to Extension Master Gardener and Vermont Master Composter volunteers. In 2024, Helpline volunteers responded to more than 800 questions from the public.
Learn more about the program at uvm.edu/extension/mastergardener. For more gardening information, visit: go.uvm.edu/garden-resources.
