Water Resources and Horticulture Team Up to Promote Environmentally Friendly Landscaping
Photo Credit: Terasa Lott
With the cancellation of all in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was critical for Clemson Extension to find alternative methods in order to fulfill its mission. While Extension has had an online presence with online courses, websites, and social media, little has been done in terms of real-time online programming.
Kim Morganello, Carolina Clear Program Coordinator, and Terasa Lott, State Coordinator for the South Carolina Master Gardener Program, teamed up to develop a three-part webinar series in April 2020, focusing on Carolina Yards. Carolina Yards is an environmentally friendly landscaping program designed to assist and guide South Carolina homeowners in making changes in the environmental quality of their yards, neighborhoods, and surrounding waterways. This program was ideal for online programming at this time for several reasons:
- Interest in gardening surged as many citizens spent more time at home.
- With its broad concept of gardening in a way that protects natural resources, the program lends itself to collaborative programming efforts.
Each webinar was one hour in length and included time for Q&A. The series was offered free of charge but registration was required. Individual webinar topics included:
- April 15: Introduction to Carolina
- April 22: Right Plant, Right Place
- April 29: Managing Water in Your Own Backyard
The capacity for each webinar was originally set at fifty participants. After reaching that in just one day, capacity was increased with a total of 103 registrants. Actual participation in each webinar was forty to fifty. Of those, twenty-eight individuals from thirteen counties provided feedback through a Qualtrics evaluation. Over Ninty percent of respondents indicated they were inspired to change the way they manage their lawn/garden/landscape. More than sixty percent of respondents said they planned to certify their yard or their yard was already certified as a Carolina Yard. Over seventy-five percent of respondents said they plan to install a rain garden or rainwater harvesting system or already had systems installed.
Offering the series was a learning experience for the co-hosts in terms of utilizing Zoom technology and presenting it to a virtual audience. Evaluation data indicates it was a learning experience for participants; as well as demonstrated by this comment: “This was a well-organized and informative program. The length of each session was perfect. The presenters worked well together. Thank you!”
Submitted by: Terasa Lott, State Coordinator, SC Master Gardener Program
