Green Spring Docents Lead the Way
by Debbie Waugh, Site Historian, Green Spring Gardens
Garden tour season is well under way, and since early spring, our talented group of Green Spring Extension Master Gardener (GSEMG) volunteer docents has been leading the way.
In 2007, we created a special docent training program for the GSEMGs. Active docents earn volunteer education hours as they help us fulfill our mission to share our resources with our visitors. The collaboration has been a resounding success. Since its inception, over 10,000 visitors attending public and private programs that include a garden tour have benefited from the knowledge, passion, and dedication of these docents.
The term “docent” is from the Latin word docere, meaning to teach. Docents guide our visitors on a journey of discovery and engage discriminating audiences in many different ways. They use universal themes that are relevant to visitors to connect them to gardening and to Green Spring. They tell stories that inspire and promote understanding. Ultimately, they provoke our visitors to care about this place and what we do here. But to become such proficient provocateurs, they must complete a rigorous training program.
We aim to provide all the necessary tools for docents to be confident and successful. Training sessions cover essential information: facts and figures, history, and detailed descriptions of the demonstration gardens. But they need more than facts at their fingertips, and an interpretive session is included to demonstrate a variety of tips and techniques to convey the information in stimulating ways.
It doesn’t end there. Docents are continually refining their art. GSEMG docents draw upon continued education opportunities to create original, one-of-a-kind tours. They also bring their own personalities and experience to the process. There’s no such thing as doing “the tour” of Green Spring – it’s no cookie-cutter experience. Different docents mean guests will be treated to a different perspective each time.
These front-line ambassadors face unique challenges in the gardens: inclement weather, ambient noise and other distractions, and, of course, an ever-changing exhibit! Unlike a static museum display, changing seasons and new plantings yield a myriad of plant displays in every garden in just one year. Yet, this resourceful and diligent group rises to the challenge and keeps up with the changes. They also offer innovative ideas for information sharing, specialized tours, and “rainy day” solutions.
It’s a perfect symbiotic relationship. Docents tap into their passion for this place to engage our visitors and educate them on sound horticultural practices. In turn, they become powerful advocates for Green Spring. Garden tour participants are consistently happy with the tours, and we think our docents are happy too. We consider it a sign of success that GSEMG docents - a bit like Supreme Court justices - seem to like sticking around! With so little attrition to the group over the years, we’ve had to put docent training on a long hiatus, and aspiring docents-in-waiting have had to be patient.
However, a training program to be held in early 2026 will bring a few more GSEMG docents into the ranks of this outstanding group for next year’s tour season. They will become the face and voice of what can be experienced and learned here. Look out for them as they lead the way through Green Spring Gardens.
* All Docent photos taken by Laura Strecker.
