Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

This segment was on NPR’s Science Friday program in October 2009.

Green Your Lawn

Many home gardeners love a green lawn — but how can you be grow grass that’s green in the environmental sense as well? In this segment, we’ll talk about moving your lawn away from conventional pesticides and fertilizers, and about whether it’s possible to have an environmentally-sensitive lawn. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids’ Connection.

Are you new to Adobe Connect? Do you have questions about how to setup and manage meetings? This online training will cover the basics of using Adobe Connect. Issues to be covered include how to set up new meeting, managing audio, uploading and sharing content and much more.
Dates:
Tuesday October 20, 2009 10-11:30 a.m.
Wednesday October 21, 2009 1-2:30 p.m.

To register please click here.

By Dan Decker, Heather Wieczorek Hudenko, Bill Siemer and Paul Curtis, Cornell University; John Major and Lou Berchielli, NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation

What is the Issue?
New York State (NYS) is home to hundreds of species of wildlife. Interactions
with wildlife such as white-tailed deer, black bear, Canada geese, and coyotes
are common for residents of rural, exurban, and urban-rural interface
communities. Most of these interactions are positive, but some may have
negative economic, aesthetic, health, and safety impacts. Although regional
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) offices partner with
communities by providing technical advice, issuing necessary permits, and
providing referrals to other agencies or the private sector, it’s not their focus,
nor do they have the resources, to deal with wildlife management solutions at
an individual community level. Community residents and local institutions
need to assume responsibility and play multiple roles in identifying and
implementing effective approaches to achieve peaceful human-wildlife
coexistence in partnership with state and federal agencies.

click here for the full report

Many of our CCE education gardens could be excellent candidates for this award:
The 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards, designed to give national recognition and $5,000 in plants to community groups and organizations that are improving their local environments, is now accepting applications. The annual award, sponsored by Omaha-based Nature Hills Nursery, will be presented in April 2010 to groups and organizations that are literally “greening” their communities, parks, schools and public spaces by planting trees, shrubs and other plants.
The winners of the 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be those nonprofit groups and organizations that truly are making a difference in their local neighborhoods. The Grand Prize winning garden project will receive $2,500 in plants from Nature Hills Nursery. The First Prize winner will receive $1,500 in plants from Nature Hills Nursery, and the Second Prize winner will receive $1,000 in plants. The plant materials can contain any combination of trees, fruit trees, bushes and shrubs, perennials and vegetable seeds that Nature Hills Nursery offers.

The award winners will be chosen from those groups that submit a local community gardening or “greening” project that makes best use of the trees, bushes and shrubs that Nature Hills Nursery will award. Potential 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award winning projects can be:

• Creating or refurbishing the landscape in a community park.
• A local soil erosion control plan that utilizes plants to stabilize steep
  hillside slopes or river banks.
• The reclamation of an abandoned lot with the creation of a fruit orchard that will provide much needed fruit to nearby low-income residents.
• Creating a wildlife habitat for birds or animals on donated land that is (or has been) abandoned or neglected.

Applications for the 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be accepted nationwide from September 15, 2009 until April 1, 2010. The winners of the 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be announced on April 19, 2010. To apply for the 2010 award online, visit the website at www.naturehills.com/green_america_awards.aspx.

In the summer of 2009 a CCE student intern working at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schenectady County help us tackle the question of how volunteers and staff members might keep up to date on pest management products for residential environments. This poster Home Landscape and Pest Management offers some more information on that effort including some recommendations. What do you think of the recommendations?

Moreover, I’d like to apply to have a summer intern  again in 2010 who could tackle a community horticulture issue so please send Lori your thoughts on:

1) Would you be interested in supervising a summer intern in your county? 2) What are the most pressing residential horticulture question you’d like us to consider address?