2016 OSU Master Gardener Test
Central Gorge – Hood River County
Your name: _________________________________________________
Date:_____________________________________
Instructions: This is an open-book exam. You may use any resources, including your fellow Master
Gardeners, to complete the exam. Suggested resources include but are not limited to:


Your Sustainable Gardening handbook – any chapter, including those not assigned as
reading assignments
PNW Handbooks :
http://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/
http://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/
Classroom presentations - http://extension.oregonstate.edu/hoodriver/master-gardenerclass-presentations
OSU Extension Service gardening publications http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/results.php?cat=Gardening
We will review the exam during class on Wednesday, March 23. I will collect completed exams at
the end of the class. If you are not able to attend the class, please return your completed exam to
me by April 8th at 2990 Experiment Station Drive, Hood River, OR, 97031.
1. What type of information do Master Gardeners pass on to the community?
2. How long is the Master Gardener certification good for?
3. You are volunteering at a plant clinic at a Farmer’s Market, and a client wants to know the
answer to a plant question. You do not have a reference material that answers the particular
question. What do you do?
4. How many plant clinic hours do you need to complete in order to certify?
a. 24 hours
b. 12 hours
c. 2 hours
d. 55 hours
5. The 2016 CGMGA President is:
a. Dennis Carlson
b. Mary Parrot
c. Shari Bosler
d. Rachel Suits
2016 OSU Master Gardener Test
Central Gorge – Hood River County
6. What is a weed?
a. A plant that thrives once you plant it in your garden.
b. A plant that is a hazard or a nuisance or one that causes injury to people, animals, or a
desired crop.
c. A plant that causes a range of problems in your garden like reducing crop yields, destroy
habitat, reduce recreational opportunities, decrease property values, increase erosion and
are costly to control.
d. Answers b and c
7. Why are weeds so successful?
8. Name two common weeds in the Central Gorge and some ways to manage them.
9. How are plants classified?
a. By their life cycles
b. Drainage preferences
c. Cold hardiness
d. Reproductive strategies
e. All of the above
10. Which statement below is true about the similarities or differences between dicots and
monocots?
a. They have different root structures.
b. They have the same floral parts.
c. Monocots typically have parallel-veined leaves while dicots have net-veined leaves
d. Their seed leaves are the same.
11. What are the requirements for plant growth?
12. Name six (6) characteristics that describe insects.
13. Use your Insect Decision Tree from Alison Walston’s Insect
Presentation to determine if the image is an insect or not.
Bonus if you identify the insect order and family.
2016 OSU Master Gardener Test
Central Gorge – Hood River County
14. How do bees communicate?
a. Hormones
b. Verbal cues
c. Pheromones and movements
15. What are some factors that can contribute to bark beetle outbreaks?
a. Wind and ice storms
b. Drought
c. Soil compaction
d. Tree spacing
e. All of the above
16. What is some advice you would give to clients about managing healthy trees?
17. What are 10 questions to ask while diagnosing plant problems?
18. What are some steps you might want to consider when planting blueberries?
a. Test the soil two years prior to planting for heavy metals
b. Test the soil six months prior for pH and soil nutrient levels
c. Incorporate bark mulch or sawdust after you test the soil
d. Form and build the beds as soon as possible
19. Define IPM.
2016 OSU Master Gardener Test
Central Gorge – Hood River County
20. What are the steps of an Integrated Pest Management strategy?
21. As an OSU Master Gardener, why is it important to have a basic understanding of pesticides and
pesticide safety?
22. How do you reduce your exposure to pesticides?
a. Wear gloves when handling pesticides
b. Read the label on how to properly use pesticide
c. Properly store, label, and discard pesticides
d. Do not apply to clothing or bedding
e. All of the above
23. What factors contribute to pesticides moving from the site of application:
a. Spray during a windy day
b. Spray when it is windy
c. Spray when it is hot and dry
d. Spray when the irrigation is on
e. Spray far from your target
f. All of the above
24. What knowledge is needed for modern plant breeding?
25. What are three things you may want to consider if you were to redesign your yard using
sustainable landscaping methods?
2016 OSU Master Gardener Test
Central Gorge – Hood River County
26. The proportion of sand, silt, and clay in a soil determines this soil property:
a. Soil structure
b. Soil texture
c. Soil fertility
27. What is the difference between soil texture and soil structure?
28. What are some key factors you need to consider with waterwise gardening?
29. What is the definition of plant disease?
30. If someone came into the plant clinic asking for pruning advice, what would you tell them in one
statement?
2016 OSU Master Gardener Test
Central Gorge – Hood River County
31. I’m having a lower than usual yield of blueberries
from my 10 year old bushes this year. Last week, I
noticed that as my blueberries were about to ripen,
they started to brown, shrivel and fall off the bush. I
haven’t noticed this problem before now. I have 15
plants and I see browning blueberries only on 4 of the
plants on one side of the row. I typically prune and
fertilize with organic amendments every winter and
prefer not to spray the plants for pests. Please help
me figure out what the problem is and how to
manage it!
32. List some resources you plan to use when giving plant clinic clients information to solve their
plant or insect problem.