Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture

Los Alamos Master Gardeners Association
The Los Alamos Master Gardeners Association (LAMGA) was organized by the agent in 1996 and has continued to be an integral part of horticulture programming within the county. Sustainable membership is at approximately 50 volunteers. The goals of the association include the promotion of knowledgeable, effective, and safe horticultural and gardening practices in furtherance of NMSU; and promotion of goodwill in our community by participating in horticultural and educational service projects. Although the primary function for the Association is to provide knowledgeable, research based information to the public, there are limits to what can be expected of volunteers to master, therefore there is continued reliance by the community on the agent.

Twenty one participants are enrolled in the Master Gardener training program [21(W); (19(F), 2(M)]. Participants receive 45 hours of college level training in the area of urban horticulture. Classes are taught by the horticulture agent and NMSU specialists from the Extension Plant Sciences Department. Topics included in the training were: Soils, Basic Botany, Fruit Trees and Small Fruits, Vegetables, The Plant Environment, Composting, Water Harvesting, Roses, Houseplants and Container Gardening, Wildlife Damage Control, Turf, Evergreens, Defensible space, Roses, Ornamental Plants, lant Diseases, Weed Identification & Control and Insect Identification and Control. All twenty one participants passed the minimum criteria for certification which included attendance of 80% of classes and the achievement of 80% accuracy on all quizzes following each of the 14 classes.

The major emphasis for the Association continues to be the development and maintenance of the Los Alamos Demonstration Garden, one of the largest demonstration gardens in New Mexico. This educational garden started in 1990 by the Los Alamos County Cooperative Extension Service and PRIDE Committee. It was adopted by the Los Alamos Master Gardeners’ Club(LAMG) in 1995. LAMGA maintains the Garden with support from Los Alamos County Parks Division, grants and memorial donations. Under the supervision of the agent, Master Gardeners contributed 745 hours to the LA Demonstration Garden and other programs during the reporting period with the approximate value of $13,075.00. The agent also dedicated time to projects which included the continued development of a dry shade garden, addition of a vertical rock garden and expansion of the herb garden. There was also continued development of the xeric, transition and oasis gardens.

Under agent supervision, the Los Alamos Master Gardeners Association hosted its first biennial Garden Fair in June at the Demonstration Garden as part of Chamber Fest, a community-wide festival. A wide variety of gardening activities and seminars were provided for the general public. Tours of the garden, seminars on defensible space, gopher management, automatic irrigation and plant selection were included. In addition there was a plant sale and activities for children.

Los Alamos became the first county in New Mexico to offer the Junior Master Gardener Program. The program engages children in novel, “hands-on” group and individual learning experiences that promote a love of gardening, develop an appreciation for the environment, and cultivate the mind. JMG encourages youths to be of service to others through service learning and leadership development projects and rewards them with certification. Twelve members completed the program where they participated in hands-on activities and projects which included:
• Plant Growth and Development
• Soils and Water
• Ecology and Environmental Horticulture
• Insects and Diseases
• Landscape Horticulture
• Fruits and Nuts
• Vegetables and Herbs
• Life Skills and Career Exploration
Participants were certified and awarded pins based on their completion of the interactive youth handbook.

Additionally volunteers were involved in offering a joint public program with the Los Alamos Photography Club which featured famed author and photographer Charles Mann who lectured on “Art Gardening and Photography” There were 37 participants. Three volunteers judged at the Science Fair. Volunteers were also involved in adding the Los Alamos Demonstration Garden to the “Walking Tour” brochure which is published by the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce. Approximately 2600 of these brochures are distributed to Los Alamos visitors each year.

Green Industry
The County is also home to many landscape professionals. Several of these businesses take advantage of the services provided by the Los Alamos Cooperative Extension Service, not least among these consultations on problems they are not able to solve to their own, or their clients, satisfaction. The agent provided 57 such consultations over the course of the year.

Other Activities
The horticulture agent attended five Landscape Review Committee meetings to review and approve landscapes for the KRSN tower, White Rock Visitors Center, Bechtel Corporation Site, County Judicial Site and LA County Golf Course Clubhouse. The approvals are part of the planning and zoning approval process within the Los Alamos Community Development Department for all commercial and County building projects.

Composting in the School

The agent along with the specialist organized a composting workshop for the Maxwell School fourth and fifth graders. The agent was responsible for assisting the Maxwell School fifth grade teacher in locating some composting tumblers, scheduling the specialist, and for recording the results of the workshop. There were 19 students that participated in the two workshops that were half days each. As a result 6 students are currently practicing back yard composting at their respective houses.

Tree and Lawn Care Workshop

The agent presented a tree health and lawn care workshop to the Kiwanis. There were 11 members in attendance who were very interested in the topic. As a result four of the members had the agent go to their houses and make specific recommendations for each of their situations. The agent did a follow up visit two months after to view the results and the clients were satisfied and were successful with growing their lawns and pruning their trees.

Colfax County Master Gardeners

The agent has been successful in starting a Master Gardener program in Colfax County. The program is not a traditional program due to the location of the county, the short growing season, and budget constraints. The agent has worked with the agent from Valencia County and the IT at New Mexico State University to hold the classes via centra. The first class was in 2010 and there were 20 successful participants that attended the classes and met the volunteer requirements. In 2011 there are 15 successful participants that have completed the program. In 2010 the volunteers gave 446 hours of community service to Colfax County. In 2011 they have volunteered 520 hours of community service to Springer, Raton, Cimarron, Miami, and Farley. The class is already looking to be full for 2012.

The Colfax County Master Gardeners along with the agent had a booth at the Colfax County Health Fair. 12 volunteers worked the booth giving out handouts, wild seed samples that are appropriate for Colfax County, and a beginning gardener kit. The members reported an increase in interest in the program and increase in gardening that was reported by the 1100 people that attended the Health Fair.

Urban Horticultural Inquiries to the Cooperative Extension Office

The agent recorded 512 agricultural inquires for the past year which is more than 2010 however, the drought was the main reason for the increase. The agent feels strongly that one of the Cooperative Extension Service’s greatest impacts is the one-on-one service we provide to those who walk in, call in, or E-mail the office with questions on varieties that grow best here, insects, plant diseases, weeds, urban wildlife management, plants’ water needs, and damage done to plants by ignoring the factors that make up our particular growing environment. Certainly more people are reached in public presentations but, these programs cannot come close to the value of the personal attention and abundant information provided by NMSU and the Land Grant University system that is now available at the touch of a computer keyboard to the agricultural agent serving those clients that contact the Cooperative Extension Service office. Even to those clients who are not new to the county, if a weed, or insect, or plant disease is not known by name it is almost impossible for the client to find any information on the Internet or elsewhere, but because of the training provided for the agricultural agent and resources made available, especially the ready access to the NMSU Extension Specialists, problems can be identified and quickly researched to provide timely University-research-based information for the urban grower as well as the larger production grower. At no other place can a person walk in without an appointment with an insect, plant disease, or weed, have it identified and receive a virtual library of information for its management in their garden/landscape environment within minutes.