Innovation Grants for 2026

Through a combination of successful events and the astute management of our Grant and Scholarship Funds (by our friends and supporters at Main Street Financial), LINLA awarded $14,500 to four (4) worthy applicant organizations.

These projects were selected by the Grant and Scholarship committee for their value to the industry.

Supporting the Summer Internships

Awarded $5000

Bayard Cutting Arboretum

Horticulture Techniques for Students & Professionals (Six-Part Series)

Awarded $3500

Landcraft Garden Foundation

Long Island Field Study by Cobleskill Students

Awarded $2500

SUNY Cobleskill

Black Root Rot Control on Lavender and Phlox

Awarded $3500

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk

The Bayard Cutting Arboretum Internship Program has has long history. Many of the current staff started off as interns and many interns go on to work in the industry or continue their education locally. Interns gain hands on experience and field trips emphasize the many different career options in horticulture, giving interns the opportunity to network with people within the professional community. [This is the 6th year LINLA has supported this grant]

This six-part series introduces students and professionals to a variety of careers in horticulture, as well as teaches practical skills. We hope to inspire horticulture students and professionals to explore different niches of nursery & landscape professions.

Two are offered Spanish as well.

This field study exposes students to the business of and careers in the greenhouse, nursery, landscape, public garden, farm to bottle, organic farm, and floriculture industries on Long Island. While also creating new bonds amongst peers, opportunities to connect with potential employers.

[This is the 8th year LINLA has supported this grant]

Our Extension friends; Margery Daughtrey, and Mina Vescera will be comparing the health of two lime-loving crops at different pH levels, with and without inoculation with Berkeleyomyces basicola , the fungus that causes black root rot.

This will test whether the disease can be managed through pH adjustment to a lower pH (below pH 6.2) without sacrificing the quality of the crop.