Coconino Master Gardener Association: Weed Management

CMGA General Info

Christmas Amaryllis with Orchid to the right. Below Ruth Benson's holiday bears.
Photo by Loni Shapiro.

Welcome to the Coconino County Master Gardeners Association blog. The mission of the Master Gardener Program is to create a corps of well-informed volunteers, and to deliver quality horticultural education programs adapted to our regional high elevation environment. The purpose of the association is to provide support for those volunteers and Master Gardener graduates, continuing education, and opportunities to participate in community programs that increase the visibility and participation in the Master Gardener Program.

The Coconino Master Gardener Association (2009) began in 2009. This blog contains information on:

-How to become a member

-Volunteer and Education hours reporting

-Calendar of Events

-General gardening information articles

-Master Gardener Association Documents and forms

-References and Resources

-Interesting Websites and Blogs

-Old Gardening Etcetera columns

-Recipes

-Book Reviews

-How to contact Board or Committee Members

Meetings are held monthly on the 2nd Thursday from 600pm - 8;30pm. We meet at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church at 1601 N. San Francisco. This includes continuing education and a business meeting.

Reporting Master Gardener Hours

All master gardener trainees and certified master gardeners need to report their hours.
Beginning in 2010 certified master gardeners need to have 6 Education hours and 12 Volunteer hours in order to maintain certification.The on line reporting system allows you to report Education or Volunteer hours. You can sign in to record hours in the right hand column under Recording Volunteer and Education Hours. Just click on the U. of A.
If you have any questions or concerns about the new reporting system, please contact Brenda Smith (A - M) or Sue Madden (N - Z). Their contacts are listed at the bottom of the blog under Contacts.

Ideas for hours------
--Attend monthly meetings
--Work on an association committee
--Work at an informational booth for the Master Gardeners
--Be a speaker about gardening topics at a variety of venues
--Host a garden tour
--Work at a fundraising event (Plant Sale - Garden Tour).
--Work at a MG site (Olivia White Hospice, the Arboretum, Riordan Mansion, or school gardens (many others)). Check out the Assoc. Doc. & Forms under Volunteer Sites.
--Work in the Extension office
--Write an article for the newspaper column -Gardening Etcetera
-Volunteer with the Seed Library
Be creative! There are many ways to fulfill your hours. Just remember for volunteering it needs to be a non-profit endeavor or an approved for profit site.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Weed Management

News from the Native Plant Society

Dear colleagues, I know that this may not be accurate but I often find that native plant enthusiasts are also concerned about exotic weed invasions. I have been working with some colleagues to develop a survey of weed priorities for natural areas but I need to improve circulation and participation. Feel free to complete the survey yourself but can you help me circulate this survey among land managers and weed control folks in Arizona? This survey has been developed for Arizona specifically with the goal of getting broader input into the prioritization of weeds and which should be targets of biological control.

Please circulate the following link to stakeholders in Arizona who are responsible for weed management or have knowledge/experience of weed impacts first-hand (e.g. county-level weed managers, land management agencies, individual landholders, weed ecologists). All surveys should be completed by 22-Feb-2017. The survey is designed to short as well as enable each person to forward the link on to others as well. Here is the link:

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/ 3328954/Prioritizing-Weeds- for-Biological-Control-Arizona

Thanks, Paul.

Dr. Paul Pratt, Ph.D.

Research Leader

Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit

USDA/ARS/WRRC

800 Buchanan Street, Office 3008, Lab 2136

Albany, CA 94710

Office: (510) 559-6127

Cell: (510) 332-7679