Green Superstar
November 2013
Robert Lawson
You may know Robert Lawson as the application and systems specialist in IT. However, you may not be aware that he's also been a certified Master Gardener for 6 years and was the first faculty manager of the Soka Instructional Garden (SIG).
A Master Gardener is a local resident
...trained to help residents of Orange County become better gardeners. Using a variety of activities such as workshops, lectures, and a garden hotline, these volunteers answer questions about home horticulture, sustainable landscaping, and integrated pest management using University of California research-based information.3 years ago, Robert Lawson and Dr. Robert Hamersly proposed student garden at Soka under the wing of academics. At the same time, the city was also pushing a composting program. The result was a generally friendly "environment" for a teaching garden at Soka--the result can still be seen in the parking lot near the large conference room. Students work in the garden every Sunday morning!
Robert Lawson has since stepped down as faculty garden manager, passing the title on to Dr. Robert. However, his knowledge was critical to founding the garden, and students continue to use him as a resource.
Environmental Department: What made you become a Master Gardener?
Robert Lawson: "I ran a nursery for 10 years growing California native plants for restoration in the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. I met a number of Master Gardeners during that time... I liked what I saw, so I signed up."
ED: How long did it take you to become a master gardener?
RL: "There is an initial trainer period of 6 months... 12 hours of training are required per year."
To keep their title, Master Gardeners are required to volunteer service to the community 25 hours per year.
ED: As a Master Gardener, what are you qualified to do or teach?
RL: "Being a Master Gardener is different from having a Masters in Gardening... We're amateur-volunteer scientists, the residential side of extension service out of the University of California Cooperative Extension Program."
Masters Gardeners are only responsible for a certain amount
of community service--paid staff do commercial horticulture like farms and nurseries. The goal of the Master Gardener program is to teach and share scientific agricultural knowledge. The county encourages Master Gardeners to participate in a speaker program. They often work with schools, especially kindergarten - 6th grade.
There is also an acre of Irvine Great Park devoted to a Master Gardener demonstration garden.
"There are different specialties in the program: home gardening, canning, fruit trees, composting. I've done the composting program. I'm qualified to teach about composting."
ED: What do you grow in your garden at home?
RL: “[My yard] is not very big. But that’s the big thing…putting more into a smaller space.”
His basic garden is California natives. However, he also has a full winter garden and a variety of fruit trees: orange, lime, tangerine, nectarine, plum, apples, cherry, pluot, avocado, and
blueberries. He uses drip irrigation
(microsprinklers.)
ED: How do you hope to see the SIG develop in the future? What do you think it should achieve?
RL: "When I ran the nursery, the goal was to produce plants of equal caliber to commercial nurseries. I think the goal for the SIG is parallel--to produce plants and compost equal to what you could buy at the supermarket or garden store.
"It’s a big commitment. People like success. You want to be on a winning venture. And if you can produce that, you’ll be viewed as a winner.”
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Robert Lawson was set to retire in December...but we're lucky to have him for a little longer yet. If you have questions about gardening, composting, or the Master Gardener program, shoot him an email. For more information on the SIG, you can get in touch on Facebook!
If you know someone who deserves recognition as a GREEN SUPERSTAR in the coming months, please message us below, on Facebook, or at SSU_EnvironmentalDepartment@soka.edu .
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