Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

Chemung, Ontario, Orleans, Rensselaer and Washington County Master Gardeners have been collaborating with Charlie Mazza for the last 15 months to launch a new educational theme, Site Assessment for Gardeners. Master Gardeners in those counties are conducting workshops in 2007 with home gardeners as a means of motivating home gardeners to plan ahead. There is still some work to do, but resources will be available to move beyond those five counties in Autumn, 2007, published by NRAES.

We have broken it up into chapters for ease of viewing online. It is based on a series of activities to gather information about a site. Note that it will undergo some changes, based on a peer review that is being conducted in many states in the Northeast and Central part of the U.S.

If you want to see a pre-publication version of the workbook, visit it online at www.gardening.cornell.edu/landscape and click on the first resource on that list, Site Assessment for Gardeners (4.8 MB, pdf file).

Here is what the back cover of the future workbook will say:

Ever wonder why some gardens and landscapes look dazzling year after year, while others just go down hill after planting?

Are you looking for ways to prevent gardening problems before they get out of hand?

Then site assessment – the ‘discovery process’ that reveals the physical traits that make your yard unique – can help your gardens and landscapes thrive.

The hands-on activities in this workbook will help you find out more about the soil, wind, light, temperature, drainage, and uninvited wildlife guests that determine the success or failure of your plantings.

When you’ve gotten to know your property better using this approach, you’ll have:
• A sketch of your yard with information you’ll need to make important planting decisions for years to come.
• A list of existing plants and how they fit into your future plans.
• A checklist of other physical factors that you have discovered during your site assessment.

Matching your plantings to your site’s characteristics will help you create more-sustainable and easier-to-care-for landscapes.
Each step includes an explanation of its importance, information-gathering activities, how to use the information you gather as well as books and websites for more information.

We also have a powerpoint presentation (in both CD format and 35mm slide format) arriving in the Horticulture Resource Library to motivate gardeners to the advantages of assessing their properties and a workbook that contains steps to accomplish the goal. I

This project on Site Assessment for Gardeners builds on the statewide Community Horticulture Extension educational goal of preventing gardening problems from getting out of hand by getting to know your site — its opportunities and challenges. The goal of promoting preventive practices in gardening/landscaping was set by the Community Hort PWT back in the early 2000’s. Both the powerpoint and the workbook are resources to help you further that educational goal and to you plan educational programs on that theme in years to come.

For additional information contact project leader: Charlie Mazza (cpm6@cornell.edu)

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