Planting drought resistant plants; increasing the efficiency of irrigation systems; irrigating based on plant water needs; reusing greenwaste; and, adopting integrated pest management practices are key elements of sustainable landscaping.   Adopting these sustainable landscaping principles improves plant health and reduces water waste, organic matter otherwise destined for landfills, and the use of pesticides.

 In May 2009, the University of California Cooperative Extension’s (UCCE) Master Gardener Program in San Bernardino County organized and conducted two Harmony in the Garden Workshops to demonstrate these sustainable landscape principles to the gardening public.  The two workshops provided similar information...

Last April, the Master Gardener Program Coordinator in San Joaquin County, Marcy Hachman, was contacted by a few third grade teachers at Shasta Elementary school in Manteca.  The teachers were interested in starting worm composting at their school but had little expertise. Then the Master Gardeners stepped in and taught a series of classes to both the teachers and the children.  Two third grade classes started composting their lunch scraps after the MGs talked to the classes about worm composting do's and don'ts and all the benefits associated with it. The San Joaquin County Master Gardener program donated several pounds of worms to the school to get this project...