The Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference of the National Association of County Extension Agents is that one time of year where extension agriculture professionals gather to share ideas, give talks, network, and let their hair down. The name of the organization is a bit outmoded: many states no longer call their extension personnel agents, but rather educators, experts, professionals, area specialists, and the like. Most aspects of agriculture are included: from the traditional cows and plows of animal science and agronomy to horticulture and sustainable agriculture (I’m the outgoing national chair of that committee).… Continue reading this article “GPs at the Tradeshow: Looking for snake oil and finding…..the dirt on tillage”
Landscape fabric – a cautionary tale
This isn’t the first time I’ve ranted about bad mulch choices and it certainly won’t be the last. But this pictorial cautionary tale is too important to pass up.
We already know that sheet mulches can be death to microbes, plant roots and animals living in the soil underneath. Our newly published research shows that landscape fabric reduces carbon dioxide movement between the soil and atmosphere about 1,000 times more than wood chip mulches do: plastic mulches are even worse.… Continue reading this article “Landscape fabric – a cautionary tale”
Soil compaction–the urban stress of death for shade trees
I was taught in horticulture school that the ideal soil is composed of 50% solids and 50% voids or spaces which are themselves composed of a variable amount of water from small amounts to as much as 25% water when the soil is at field capacity or the amount of water left in soil after gravity has pulled all the free water down in the profile. So the “ideal” soil always has 25% pore spaces or more depending on how much water is present.… Continue reading this article “Soil compaction–the urban stress of death for shade trees”
Professional Credentials and Gardening Expertise: Entomologists
This is an installment of our series on professional credentials and gardening expertise. To read the introduction to this series, see Professional Credentials and Gardening Expertise.
Entomologists, Professional Credentials, and Designating Body
Entomology is the study of insects, and is a field within zoology, the study of animals. In the US, the primary professional and scientific society of entomologists is the Ecological Society of America (ESA), which formed in 1889 (ESA, 2019a). The ESA developed the Board Certified Entomologist (BCE) professional certification for professional entomologists with a bachelor’s degree or higher in entomology or a closely related discipline (ESA Certification Corporation, 2019a).… Continue reading this article “Professional Credentials and Gardening Expertise: Entomologists”
Testing, testing, 1-2-3: Trialing new plants for the home garden
How do you know that plants will do well in your garden? Do you research the types of plants for your region, study different cultivars, and select only things that have been proven to do well for your conditions? Or do you buy what catches your eye at the garden center, plant it, and then see what happens? I used to joke that my home garden was a horticulture experiment station, since I’d try all kinds of random plants or techniques and see what works for me. … Continue reading this article “Testing, testing, 1-2-3: Trialing new plants for the home garden”
Why soil tests matter: lessons from my vegetable garden
Regular blog readers will remember that we moved to my childhood home a few years ago. With an acre or so of landscape I finally have enough room to put in a vegetable garden. My husband built a wonderful raised bed system, complete with critter fencing, and we’ve been enjoying the fresh greens and the first few tomatoes of the season.
We filled these raised beds with native soil. During a porch addition I asked the contractor to stockpile the topsoil near the raised beds.… Continue reading this article “Why soil tests matter: lessons from my vegetable garden”
Professional Credentials and Gardening Expertise
This is the first post in a series in which we will explore the world of professional credentials and designations, highlight disciplines related to gardening with certification or licensing programs, and outline potential services professionals from each of those disciplines can provide to gardeners.
Professional designations are designed to help clients identify experts within specific disciplines. In upcoming posts I will highlight professional designations relevant to various aspects of gardening. Professional certifications, licensures, and credentials related to gardening include:
- Board Certified Entomologist (BSE)
- ISA Certified Arborist
- Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) and Certified Professional Agronomist (CPAg)
- Certified Horticulturalist (CH)
- Certified Professional Forester (CPF)
- Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS)
- Professional Landscape Architect (PLA)
- Registered Consulting Arborist (RCA)
Before I highlight each of those professions and credentials in future posts, I want to first provide context and explain the purpose of professional certification and licensing.… Continue reading this article “Professional Credentials and Gardening Expertise”
Is there a “Deathstar” in your garden?
If you follow national news, you may have noticed that Sudden Oak Death disease caused by Phytophthora ramorum has been found again in a new state and has escaped into retail commerce and thus into gardens. This is news because the disease is a killer of rhododendron, oak, camellia and many other ornamental plants. Yesterday I was measuring trees in a research plot here in California and I found that one of my subjects had turned brown and lost all its leaves.… Continue reading this article “Is there a “Deathstar” in your garden?”
To Fertilize, or Not to Fertilize, that is the question
You see a bright shiny package at the garden center saying that it can help you have the most bountiful garden ever, the greenest lawn in the neighborhood, your plants will have miraculous growth, or it will supply every element on earth to make sure that your plants are living their best life. It’s got what plants crave….It’s got electrolytes! You reach out to grab that package and ……. Woah! Pump the brakes! Do you know if your plants even need to be fertilized? … Continue reading this article “To Fertilize, or Not to Fertilize, that is the question”
Give me your huddled root masses yearning to breathe free
About this time last year I posted photos of the installation of my new pollinator gardens (all perennials). As you can tell from the photos below, all of these plants have not only survived but thrived with their midsummer rootwashing.
The only ones that didn’t make it were the six Lavandula stoechas ‘Bandera Purple’ (see above). They did fine through the summer and well into winter. But with our surprise snowstorm in February (along with a 20-degree temperature drop in one night – from 33 to 14F), all but one of these marginally hardy plants (USDA zones 7-10) gave up the ghost.… Continue reading this article “Give me your huddled root masses yearning to breathe free”