The CELS Outreach Center delivered a 10-session, 30-hour training in sustainable horticulture geared toward professionals who develop and/or enforce public policy relating to environmental protection of Rhode Islands coastal ecosystems in January of 2006.

The training was delivered to an audience with a basic understanding of botany, plant nutrition, soil structure and wetlands ecology.  The training focused on the specifics of sustainable horticulture, including:

• What makes a plant sustainable?
• How are sustainable plants different from native plants?
• Which sustainable plants are suitable for coastal (salt water) environments?
• How do horticultural techniques enhance or detract from the sustainability of  a chosen plant?
• How can the homeowner/landscaper deal with pest issues in the coastal buffer without undermining the ecological benefits of the buffer – what non-detrimental buffer alterations should be permitted in “minimally-managed” buffers?
• How can the landscaper provide the “view” the homeowner desires, while still respecting the integrity of the buffer zone?

Presenters included URI faculty members from the Departments of Landscape Architecture, Plant Sciences, and Natural Resource Science, URI Outreach Center program staff, and landscape professionals working on cutting-edge landscape management projects all around New England. 

Approximately 40 policy-makers in Rhode Island were trained.