H.O.P.E. Initiative
Helping Our Planet Endure
GPMGA is dedicated to fostering a sustainable and resilient environment through education, community engagement, and responsible gardening practices. Through our H.O.P.E. initiative—Helping Our Planet Endure—we empower individuals and communities to cultivate landscapes that support biodiversity, promote ecological health, and contribute to a thriving planet for generations to come.
H.O.P.E. Goals:
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Build and maintain healthy soil to sustain plant life and ecosystem health.
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Provide healthy wildlife habitats that nurture pollinators, birds, and beneficial organisms.
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Minimize pesticide use to protect air, water, and the well-being of all living creatures.
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Conserve water through responsible irrigation, rainwater management, and drought-tolerant landscaping.
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Reduce lawn areas to encourage biodiversity and create more sustainable landscapes.
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Manage stormwater runoff to prevent erosion, protect waterways, and enhance soil health.
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Incorporate native plants & eliminate invasive species to restore balance in the ecosystem.
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Adopt gardening practices that contribute to clean air by reducing pollutants and planting climate-friendly vegetation.
GPMGA’s HOPE Initiative Invasive Plants Team’s Project Goes on the Road
by Pat Lust
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One of our first initiatives under the HOPE umbrella was to create a document that provides information about native alternatives to invasive plants that are still available for sale in our nurseries. It features two dozen of the most popular invasive plants, and for each it features three native plants that are good alternatives along with a list of other possibilities. Many of us innocently planted invasive plants before we knew they would be harmful and are now in the process of systematically replacing them. This document can be very helpful in that process.
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Unfortunately, gardeners can still purchase invasive plants! The Virginia legislature has been resistant to dealing with this problem, but they finally passed a law that will require nurseries to label invasive plants starting next year, so that responsible gardeners will be able to make good decisions. But invasive plants will come off the shelves only in the most responsible nurseries.
Turns out that this GPMGA publication is quite popular far beyond the work of our own EMG unit. It was a featured exhibit at the Virginia Master Gardeners Association’s booth at the 2024 Virginia State Fair (pictured with samples of invasive plants). On Memorial Day this year the Northern Neck PRISM (Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management) used our publication as the centerpiece for their booth at the Strawberry Festival. And, best of all, the Hanover Master Gardener volunteers are going to use our publication at their Farmers’ Markets and Plant Clinics this summer. One of the Hanover volunteers recently hung out with GPMGA volunteers at the Powhatan Farmers’ Market when she picked up copies of the document.​
You, too, may find this document useful and can find a complete version on our Webpage. Authors of the document are GPMGA volunteers, Nancy Glasheen, Pat Lust and Katrina McIntosh.
H.O.P.E. Documents to Print
Conservation Brochure - Download PDF
Goals & Objectives - Download PDF
​​Home Gardener Checklist - Download PDF
Guidelines (Call to Action) - Download PDF
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The H.O.P.E. Learning
and Teaching Teams
(The links below direct you to expanded resources concerning these topics)
