Greene County Master Gardeners bring together gardeners who like to volunteer and volunteers who enjoy gardening.

Registration is underway for the group’s 2013 series of certification classes, to be held on Thursdays from Feb. 7 to April 11 from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Xenia Community Center at 1265 W. Second St., Xenia.

“Greene County Master Gardeners are a group of wonderful volunteers who share a love of gardening, enthusiasm for learning and a commitment to helping others,” said Barb Mills, the OSU Extension horticulture educator for Greene County.

The cost for the series of classes is $150, which includes a comprehensive notebook of all class materials.

For more information or to receive a registration form, call OSU Extension-Greene County at (937) 372-9971 or email mills35@osu.edu

Participants become Master Gardener interns after 50 hours of training and certified Master Gardeners after completing 50 hours of volunteer service and passing a certification test. To maintain their certification, members must complete 25 hours of volunteer service and six hours of advanced training annually.

Classes include botany, soils, trees, woody ornamentals, ponds, roses, plant propagation, lawn care, pruning, Entomology, landscaping, integrated pest management, vegetables, container gardening, rain gardens, plant pathology, herbaceous ornamentals and composting.

Another class on the virtual hotline will be taught by Sue Donahue, a member since 2007 and the current Greene County Master Gardeners president.

“The public just has to send an email to mgvhotline@gmail.com and there is a volunteer ready to respond to the question,” she said.

Calling the Master Gardener program a “wonderful use of individual talents,” Donahue said it is about a lot more than just gardening.

“It also allows you to try out some things you may not have a lot of experience with and want to try. We are a non-profit program so if you want to have money for programming you have to raise it some way. We have garden tours, seminars, plant sales, calendar sales…all of these projects offer different opportunities for advertising, organizing, scheduling, gardening, writing and a host of other pieces.”

That fundraising finances such projects as a garden at Parkwood Elementary School in Beavercreek, the planting of about 500 daffodils each fall at the Fifth Third Gateway Park in Beavercreek, a vegetable garden at Wright Patterson Medical Center for use in diabetic nutrition education, a native garden on the Spring Valley Bike Path and a butterfly garden in Bellbrook.

The Greene County Master Gardeners designs and maintains gardens at James Ranch Park in Xenia, Wartinger Park in Beavercreek, Mercer Smith House in Fairborn, Glen Helen in Yellow Springs, Little Miami Scenic Trail in Spring Valley and several other community projects..