Land Care Stewards (LCS) are Master Gardeners who have completed an additional 20-hour training.
The training focuses on strategies for sustainable and environmentally sound use of resources in the landscape. Some of these strategies include:
- Waterwise landscaping
- Yard waste (leaves, etc.)
- Composting and management
- Sustainable plant choices
- Firewise landscaping
These strategies help citizens to reduce and efficiently use resources, such as water or fertilizers, and to reduce and reuse outputs such as leaves and brush, keeping them out of the municipal solid waste stream and waterways in Virginia.
A major educational outreach to citizens is the site visit program. At the invitation of homeowners, schools or businesses, Land Care Stewards assess and advise residents on such issues such as rehabilitating an aging landscape, making wise plant choices and following good maintenance practices.
Other LCS outreaches include Bug Bizarre, an event that teaches youth and their parents about the roles of insect friends and pests in the landscape and an information booth at the Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale.
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