IPM Outreach Tools for a Sustainable Landscape

The educational outreach tools presented here were developed by the Northeast IPM Sustainable Landscape IPM Working Group. The first project was a collaborative effort to promote correct mowing height and sustainable lawns care practices.  Institutions/groups involved included University of Maryland, Cornell University, Penn State University, several lawn care companies, Audubon International, and the Smithsonian Institution.  Educational outreach tools included a mowing guide with correct mowing height indicated, 8 sustainable lawn care posters, and revised Growing Green Lawns Magnets. Project protocols and evaluation survey data will be presented.

Then second outreach project was the creation of posters for 5 trees, 5 shrubs, and 5 herbaceous perennials that are considered relatively pest-free and low maintenance. These 15 plants are widely adaptable across the Mid Atlantic, Northeast, and North Central regions.

Another set consists of 5 posters focused on common pest control issues in the home and around the yard including rats, brown marmorated stink bugs, mosquitoes, stinging insects and spiders. These pest issues are among the most important landscape-structure interface.

All posters are available for download on the University of Maryland’s Plant Diagnostic web site: http://plantdiagnostics.umd.edu/content/educational-resources.cfm .  An order form on the web site requests statistics and feedback on poster usage.

The speaker will discuss the value of the posters as outreach tools to raise awareness about IPM and good choices for plantings, maintenance and pests. A discussion about these projects will include statistics, demographics, feedback, etc. This should provide valuable impact data on the poster outreach project.