Help with Home Gardens

Whether you want to start a home vegetable garden, grow flowers, identify a garden pest, or improve your soil, we'll help you find the information you need for these and more home gardening projects!

Growline

Trained Master Gardener volunteers respond to your gardening questions. See our Ask the Growline page for info on how to contact us- by email, phone, or in person.

Soil Testing Services

You can obtain pH, nutrient profile, and other specialized soil tests through CCE-Tompkins. Read about the soil testing services that we offer, and the instructions for taking a soil sample before bringing your sample to CCE-Tompkins for testing.

Insect, Disease or Plant Identification

This service is done here at CCE-Tompkins for $5/sample. If necessary, samples can be sent to Cornell University for identification, at a charge of $25/sample. Please read this information about how to submit an insect sample to The Cornell University Insect Diagnostic Laboratory.

Kitchen garden in Gers, France with marigolds, tomatoes and trellises

Food Gardening

Interested in having your own vegetable garden, at home or in your neighborhood? Find links and resources here that will help get you started.

Garden soil is scooped into a plastic bag with a trowel.

Healthy Soils

Learn what soil is, how and where to test it, how to understand your test results, and why healthy soil is so important, from Cornell gardening experts, here:

Lawns & Ornamentals

Our resources on annuals, perennials, lawns, trees and shrubs can help you have a more beautiful home landscape.

Striped cucumber beetle Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius, 1775) from Bugwood.org

Pests & IPM

IPM is a system for managing pest problems using a range of safe, least-toxic methods. Find IPM resources here!

Soil Testing

Spring is a great time to get your garden soil tested for this year's garden! pH and full nutrient tests available, get all the details here!

Soils & Climate

Your garden soil and our local climate have a big impact on every aspect of growing plants. Find resources here on soil texture, organic matter, soil testing and more.

Last updated July 1, 2024

Help with Home Gardens

Find Your Zone!

2023 USDA Hardiness Zone Map

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, updated in November 2023 to place us in zone 6a, 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. Users may search by ZIP Code and find the hardiness zone for their local area. Note that our temperatures vary across Tompkins County.

The Garden Post

graphic for Garden Post enewsletter publication

Our Horticulture Program offers a free monthly e-newsletter, The Garden Post, devoted exclusively to gardening classes and tips. To receive The Garden Post, either visit our subscription form here or get in touch with Maria at mjc72@cornell.edu or (607) 272-2292 and she can add you.