Master Gardener Volunteers and staff at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schoharie and Otsego Counties (CCESO) are trained to answer residents’ questions about home gardening, on topics such as soil testing, growing vegetables, plant selection, pruning fruit trees, common plant diseases, insect identification, lawn care, and more. Master Gardener Volunteers are local residents who have completed a horticulture training course and passed a final exam to become certified. They provide unbiased, research-based information to help people grow healthy gardens and landscapes.

Often a photo or a sample of the plant will help to arrive at a diagnosis. Should the Master Gardeners not be able to diagnose a problem at the local level, we may consult with colleagues at Cornell University to arrive at an answer.

Please be sure to include both an email address (if you have one) and a phone number so that a member of our team can connect with you. As most of our Master Gardener Volunteers answer questions from home, email is typically the best (and fastest) method for communication. If you’d rather a phone call, please be on a look out for an “unrecognized” number, which sometimes happens when we return calls. Non-urgent questions may take up to one week to answer.