Implementing Landscape Plant Management Programs in Institutional and Residential Settings

Abstract

Extension specialists at the University of Maryland cooperated with county agents, suburban homeowners and institutional groundskeepers to develop, implement, and evaluate integrated pest management (IPM) programs for landscape plants at homesites and a university campus. The programs enabled participants to deal with plant problems in economically and environmentally sound ways while maintaining or improving the aesthetic quality of their plants. Each program generated valuable regional information on the types of plant materials used, their susceptibility to insect, disease and cultural problems, and the relative importance of various pests encountered. An additional benefit included extensive on-the-job training for the students who conducted the programs. Both programs provide a dynamic method for managing landscape plants and their problems now and in the future.