Monday, April 21, 2025
Master gardeners from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County taught local homeowners how to do yardwork safely for both person and plant at the East Meadow Farm on March 1.
The master gardeners are agricultural specialists that focus on educating homeowners about taking care of their property. The history of the program goes back to the founding of the country.
“It started with Thomas Jefferson, and he was very much into agriculture,” Master Gardener Patricia Oliver said. “He thought the farmers should know about all new techniques of growing. They would take a couple of farmers, teach them, and then they would go back and teach their friends and neighbors, and that’s what the Master Gardener plan is about.”
The Cornell Cooperative Extension will hold more presentations at the Uniondale Public library on March 19 at 7 p.m. on “Waking up your Garden” and another presentation at Uniondale Public Library May 12 at 7 p.m., on Perennial Gardening.
At the East Meadow Farm, homeowners came for a presentation and hands-on workshop about basic pruning techniques, what the signs of a plant in need of care are, what tools to use and when to use them.
Attendees were given tools and gear and practiced proper pruning on the farm’s greenery as a part of its seasonal maintenance.
The East Meadow Farm was founded over a decade ago when the land was leased to Cornell by Nassau County — in that time, the land went from a vacant lot to a flourishing landscape.
“We are the arboretum and gold medal plant garden,” Oliver said.
“There are many different gardens here, and each group takes care of their own garden.”
Pruning, the subject of the workshop, is the act of clipping off unhealthy parts of a plant to help the rest thrive.
“Our goal here is really to teach the general public on the correct way to prune, when to prune, and what to prune,” Master Gardener Eileen Rogers said.
“It’s all about the health of the tree,” she explained. “Some branches are dead, damaged or diseased, and also some of them are wild. When you prune, the air circulates through the tree and prevents diseases — and you’ll see the tree grow better because it doesn’t need to feed all these extra branches.”
The Master Gardener’s pruning guidelines are as follows: A branch should be removed if it is diseased, if it crosses on top of another branch, or if it is growing towards the central stem or trunk of the plant. Each of these circumstances threatens to drain the plant’s energy levels, reduce air circulation, or even kill it outright.
A couple of tricky growths to clip are shoots and sprouts. A sprout is a new stem growing out of the ground, coming from the plant’s root system. If left unattended, the sprout will drain a large amount of nutrients from its source plant. A shoot is a branch growing straight up at the top of the plant; growing vertically takes an excessive amount of energy that should be stopped.
For safety, helmets, glasses and sturdy boots are essential. If something is too high to clip with both feet on the ground, that is when calling a landscaper would be best.
Thanks to careful gardening, the master gardeners’ plants are disease resistant, drought tolerant and thrive in multiple seasons.
Each of the gardeners encouraged homeowners to select native species of plants for their homes. A native species would be the best match for
Long Island’s environment and be more helpful to nearby wildlife, supporting the ecosystem that we all live in, said Master Gardener Patricia Voll.
“If you come in the spring, or in June, you’ll see bees and butterflies all over the place,” Voll said. “It’s incredible.”
The farm offers services to community members — composting, soil, and space to grow vegetables. To learn more, visit CCENassau.org/horticulture/east-meadow-farm.
