By Mike Goatley, Professor and Extension Turfgrass Specialist, Virginia Tech
Virginia is fortunate to have several very active Master Gardener Volunteer chapters across its major metropolitan areas. The state has 62 MG units scattered across the Commonwealth comprised of over 5500 MGVs that made approximately ½ a million contacts in 2014. These volunteers are organized and led by Virginia Cooperative Extension agents at the county and city levels and they receive extensive training in all areas of horticulture and soil science prior to their ‘graduation’ and designation as a Master Gardener Volunteer through VCE. Their commitment also includes specified hours of volunteering in civic horticulture. I have the privilege to provide the turfgrass component of their training for many of the MGV chapters and I consider these volunteers to be my ‘boots on the ground’ to spread the word regarding Best Management Practices in lawn care.
The Chesapeake Bay TMDL program has spurred the interest of many of the MGV chapters to develop committees specifically devoted to urban nutrient management activities. These MGVs work with homeowners one-on-one, measuring their property, taking soil samples, and then meeting with the homeowner and discussing soil test results and a fertilization program that will result in a healthy lawn that protects the environment, not harms it. Within the past year all of the urban nutrient management programs were merged under a statewide umbrella program called “Healthy Virginia Lawns”, an effort that will allow for better reporting and documentation of the impact that the Master Gardener Volunteers are making in improving water quality.
There is great interest in the use of microclover as a component of lawns in Virginia. Research updates from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania were shared in MGV training programs I conducted for 10 MGV chapters and approximately 400 volunteers across the most populated counties in northern Virginia, Richmond, and Tidewater. The constant question was ‘Where do I get microclover?”. There still are some issues in exactly where microclover will thrive in Virginia because the Virginia Tech research at two comparatively warm locations in the state (Amherst and Virginia Beach) provided very mixed results in microclover persistence. It appears that microclover persistence is going to be a challenge in our warmest regions. However, microclover has performed very well either as a monoculture or in a mixture with tall fescue in Blacksburg at the Virginia Tech Turfgrass Research Center. It is anticipated that microclover will thrive in the cooler areas of Virginia, particularly the highly populated northern Virginia locations that are much closer to the University of Maryland research site than the warmer research locations where the work was conducted by Virginia Tech. The excitement of the Master Gardener Volunteers regarding the use of microclover in lawns is because they see the inclusion of this nitrogen-fixing plant material in lawns as a direct complement to their efforts in urban nutrient management programs.
Efforts to incorporate compost into Virginia lawn management programs have been a priority of the Virginia Master Gardener Volunteer programs for the past 10 years. The demonstrated success in the use of compost as either a pre-plant incorporated soil amendment to urban soils or as a topdressing addition in ¼ inch increments 1-2x per year has been extensively promoted through educational programming and other extension outreach efforts by both myself and our Compost and Biosolids Specialist, Dr. Greg Evanylo. The compost component of this research trial continues to affirm the value of compost as a soil amendment that improves both the physical and chemical properties of the soil and enhances a more sustainable turfgrass management system that requires fewer water and chemical inputs.
In summary, Virginia’s Master Gardener Volunteers are anxious to implement the research findings of the joint Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania research. They believe these findings will continue and enhance their efforts in making a difference in the Chesapeake Bay “one yard at a time”.
