Cornell Cooperative Extension

Dutchess County
Flowers in Minns Garden, Cornell Campus. Echinacea. Cornell University Photography.
Image by Lindsay France

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Master Gardener volunteer conducts a pH soil test on a soil sample
Image by Sandy Repp

A soil pH test is a great first step to successful gardening.

Striped cucumber beetle Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius, 1775) from Bugwood.org
Image by David Cappaert, MSU, Bugwood.org

What's eating your plants? We can help you find out, and suggest ways to control it!

Master Gardener logo, 800x400 in yellow & green

Learn skills and share what you know, as a volunteer in the CCE Master Gardener program.

Horticulture Hotline

Horticulture Hotline Hours Wednesdays 9 AM - 12 PM, April - Sept

MGV

Speakers Bureau

Gardening

CCEDC works to address the needs of the gardening community through education, classes, demonstration landscapes which focus on water conservation, best management practices and edible landscaping to supplement food expenses. The diagnostic lab offers integrated pest management options and solutions to commercial and consumer questions pertaining to agriculture and horticulture. Many wonderful, trained volunteers help to carry out our programs.

Spotted Lanternfuly has recently been found in New York State

Spotted Lanternfly

The invasive spotted lanternfly has been found in counties across NY State. Learn how to identify and control it here.

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Spongy Moth Highlight

Spongy Moth

Spongy moths (formerly called Gypsy moths) have hatched throughout Dutchess County now.

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Multiflora Rose flower

Invasive Plants

From garlic mustard to multiflora rose and everything in between, learn here about invasive plants in our area.

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Photo of a kitchen garden / vegetable in Gers, France with marigolds, tomatoes and a bean trellis

Food Gardening

There are few things better than a bright red tomato or a cool green cucumber fresh from vine! Learn here about growing your own food in your garden at home!

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fresh compost

Make Compost!

Find resources here on how to start and maintain a home compost bin! Learn how to turn food and yard waste into "black gold" for your garden!

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Deer Tick on leaf

Tick Talk

Learn the types of ticks found in New York, diseases they cause, how to identify them, and how to protect yourself and your family by avoiding tick bites.

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Last updated July 31, 2024

Gardening

CCEDC 2024 Agriculture/Horticulture Program Committee

* = representative to the board

Eugene Valoy*; Chair

Brendan Foley; Vice Chair

Lisa Baker

Amber Coon

Andrea Parent-Tibbetts

Dr. Mark Condon

Shaun Williams

​ Find Your Zone!

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The 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map helps gardeners and growers determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is available as an interactive GIS-based map, for which a broadband Internet connection is recommended. Users may also simply type in a ZIP Code and find the hardiness zone for that area.

The USDA notes that the 2023 map is based on 30 year average and include two new zones (12 and 13).

For more information on how the map was created.

Visit Cornell Garden Based Learning website

Events

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​ Insect Diagnostic Lab

For more information about an insect, or how to deal with an insect problem in or around your home or garden, contact the Insect Diagnostic Lab, a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension in the Department of Entomology. For a $25 fee, an insect or related arthropod can be shipped to the lab, or a detailed photo can be emailed, for expert identification. Diagnostician Jason Dombroskie, Ph.D. has many years ofexperience identifying insects and other arthropods. More information about this service, including fact sheets on common outdoor and indoor insects, can be found at http://entomology.cornell.edu/IDL