Sustainable Garden Care Spring 2022

Soils Assignment

Download the soil assignment below. Please email your responses to steve@steveconaway.com before class on Monday, May 2nd. If they are submitted early enough we can discuss responses at the beginning of the course. The weekly assignments are 60% of the final grade and draft sections for your final Sustainable Garden Care Plan! If you submit them on time I will be able to give you feedback and edits for your final.

Required Reading for Next Class

Please read through the story-map at the link below before our next class. It will give some useful context on water conservation and stormwater management with a local example of NYC’s freshwater and wastewater systems. New York City's Watershed Story Map by Juan Martinez, Columbia University's Earth Institute, 2019

If you would like additional information on the topic you can also look at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection Virtual Tours of New York's Watershed and Wastewater.

Additional Soil Resources

Soil Assessment

Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) , Cornell
Soil Web UC Davis and NRCS
Web Soil Survey USDA-NRCS
Weed indicator species example for soils

Soil Testing Services

University Co-operative Extension testing services such as:

List of Soil Testing Labs Nationwide

Soil Contamination

First steps when elevated lead is detected in soil UCONN Factsheet
EPA Growing Gardens in Urban Soils factsheet (PDF)

Soil Biology

Dr. Elaine’s™ Soil Food Web resources
USDA Soil Biology Primer

Amendments and Compost

Adding organic matter to garden soils: UVM Factsheet (PDF)
Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities Project Cornell
Cornell Waste Management Institute
Mulch factsheet from Penn State
Mulch factsheet from UNH
Swarthmore College’s organic lawn care compost tea video

Class 2: Water Conservation and Management

Class Presentation

Water Assignment

Download the water assignment below. Please email your responses to steve@steveconaway.com before class on Monday , May 9th. If they are submitted early enough we can discuss responses at the beginning of the course. The weekly assignments are 60% of the final grade and draft sections for your final Sustainable Garden Care Plan! If you submit them on time I will be able to give you feedback and edits for your final.

Required Reading for Next Class

Read through the brief "Defining IPM" page on the NYS-IPM webpage in preparation for next class

Additional Water Conservation and Management Resources

Water Wise Landscapes

Cornell water wise gardening (PDF)
EPA water smart landscapes (PDF)
ATTRA drought resistant soils (PDF)
UMass fact sheet on efficient Turf watering that takes into account soil texture and infiltration. (Recommendations are for a conventional system that utilizes chemical fertilizers and pesticides.)
Denver Water Wise Landscape Manual (PDF)

Permeable Materials

Rain Gardens, Barrels, and Cisterns

Resources from Watershed Stewards Academy (Maryland)

Rainscaping Manual
Rainscaping Field Guide (PDF)
Rainbarrels and Cisterns
Video of Chin Fang Chen speaking at Wave Hill about applying aesthetics to stormwater management and other infrastructure projects.

Drip Irrigation

Washington State University factsheet covering all basic elements of drip irrigation for the home garden (PDF)
Video from Fine Gardening demonstrates all features and steps required to install a basic drip irrigation system for a small garden.
Colorado State University drip for gardens
UNH irrigation efficiency factsheet

Class 3: Plant Health and Pest Management

Class Presentation

Pest Management Assignment

Download the water assignment below. Please email your responses to steve@steveconaway.com before class on Monday, May 16th. If they are submitted early enough we can discuss responses at the beginning of the course. The weekly assignments are 60% of the final grade and draft sections for your final Sustainable Garden Care Plan! If you submit them on time I will be able to give you feedback and edits for your final.

Depoliticizing the Wildlife Garden

Required Reading for Next Class

Additional Pest Management and Plant Health Resources

Pest Identification and Management

U of Maryland Boxwood diagnostics and management
NY Invasive Species Norway Maple Profile
Cornell, Apple IPM for beginners Apple Rust Diseases (PDF)
NY IPM, wide array of resources
USDA Field Guide for the Biological Control of Weeds (PDF), a thorough survey of available biocontrols and how to manage them, organized by the weed species they control.

Class 4: Plant Selection and Maintenance

Class Presentation

Selection and Maintenance Assignment

Download the assignment below. Please email your responses to steve@steveconaway.com combined with the revised previous 3 assignments (I will send comments on previous assignments by Monday May 23) as your final Sustainable Garden Care project on Monday, May 30th.