UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- While summer may conjure thoughts of lush lawns, backyard barbecues and trips to the beach, unpleasant realities like crabgrass, Japanese beetles and winter-trampled flower gardens have many people looking for help. An online agricultural directory sponsored by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences can connect homeowners with local businesses to meet their outdoor needs.

AgMap (http://agmap.psu.edu) provides access to more than 1,800 businesses across Pennsylvania. Web site founder Rick Day, associate professor of soil science and environmental information systems, says people looking for lawn care, gardening and landscaping goods and services may not know that AgMap offers more than just traditional production-agriculture products.

"In the garden center at the local big-box store, the plants were selected by someone in North Carolina and grown in Central America," Day says. "Through AgMap, you can buy plants that are locally grown and also support the local economy. Locally grown plants may be hardier, because local growers select and raise their plants based on the area's climate and pests.

Pennsylvania has many small businesses that may be able to provide expertise on how to select and manage plants and related products. For instance, Day says, AgMap can be used to find a local business that is familiar with the specific type of Japanese beetle plaguing the trees in your yard or on your farm and that can help find the best solution to your specific problem.

"Or you can find a local lawn treatment company to advise you on how best to combat the crabgrass or clover intruding on your grass," he says. "For people who want flowers but don’t know what grows well in their region, this is a good way to talk to the growers themselves. They may offer something a little different from what's sold at Wal-Mart, along with the local expertise that will help you grow them."

But AgMap does more than provide help to eradicate the pests and problems that surface as the weather warms.

"Perhaps you are looking for a summer job in landscaping or need to hire a certified landscape designer to transform your lawn for your daughter’s wedding," Day says. "Perhaps you are a busy mom, searching for a farmers' market for fresh fruits and vegetables in your area. Maybe you just have planted some new trees and need to find a nearby place that sells mulch. Maybe you'd like to experiment with colored mulches but don’t know much about them or where to find them. AgMap can help with all of these things and so much more."

As landscape fashions go in and out of style, AgMap can help you keep your lawn up to date, Day points out. "Water gardens and ponds -- and the plants to go in them -- are becoming more popular," he says. "Plant healthcare, weed control and pest management are issues with those gardens, so if you have a pond, expert business owners listed on AgMap can tell you how to manage it so that West Nile disease, for instance, is not a problem.

"The Web site also offers news and educational materials about exotic plants and invasive plant species," Day continues. "A gardener may plant bamboo because he thinks it looks cool, for instance, not realizing that it is an invasive species that can rapidly spread beyond its intended location."

And, true to its name, AgMap will help you find business locations with online mapping and detailed directions. AgMap is also a valuable resource for businesses, according to Day, providing a Web presence for their products as a free service. "Small entrepreneurs can also register," he says. "The site is not limited by size of the operation, so many of the businesses are small and seasonal in nature."

AgMap is maintained by the Land Analysis Lab in Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Geospatial Technology program and is financially supported by Penn State Cooperative Extension and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

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Writer: Whitney Glaser
Office 814-865-3636

Editor: Gary Abdullah
Office 814-863-2708
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