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Bergen County agricultural agent Joel Flagler.

Joel Flagler, Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) Agricultural and Natural Resources agent in Bergen County and professor in the Department of Plant Biology, retires effective March 1. Flagler, whose Rutgers journey began as a student – he holds a degree in horticulture from Cook College in 1974 – leaves a deep legacy at his alma mater. He entered the tenure stream as an RCE agricultural agent for Bergen County in 1988 and in 1990 Flagler became County Extension Department Head.

If asked, Flagler would say that one of his most noteworthy accomplishments was to dispel the myth that Bergen County had ‘no agriculture left.’ The old metrics of counting the number of farms showed a steady decline in farm acreage as farm families sold out to developers. “Agriculture is much more than the number of farms or pounds of tomatoes or number of cows and chickens,” says Flagler. And in Bergen County, he recognized a huge ornamental horticulture industry, including landscape contractors, arborists and urban foresters, garden centers, nurseries and turf managers.

The Bergen County Department of Parks boasts more than 10,000 acres in parklands and preserves, all of which this contributes to the larger agricultural profile, as it all involves management of trees, shrubs, turfgrass and more. Flagler brokered agreements between the Board of Agriculture and the Landscape Contractors Association and saw the Board of Agriculture include landscape contractors in its leadership, which they’ve now done for decades. He helped foster a new recognition of agriculture in all its many faces, including urban forestry, landscape contracting, nursery management, lawn care, sports turf, corporate and school campuses, community and home gardens, and also horticultural therapy.

Today, Bergen is recognized as having some of the finest nurseries and parks in the state, with significant revenues and economic impacts, shares Flagler. His research in the 90s showed that the ornamental horticulture aspects of agriculture more than equaled the production of fruits and vegetables, and that drew attention from the NJ Secretary of Agriculture. That research was done in partnership with key professional associations, including New Jersey Turfgrass Association, NJ Landscape Contractors Association and the NJ Nursery and Landscape Association.

For decades, Flagler has provided training and continuing education for professionals in landscape contracting, tree and turf maintenance, and serving many hundreds working in Bergen County’s ornamentals industry. Part of his responsibilities also included providing training for employees of Bergen County Parks Department. In Bergen County, professionals have learned to use IPM tactics, which involve maximizing plant resistance through proper selection and cultural practices, while relying less on chemical pesticides to minimize pest problems.

As a result, professionals and home gardeners do more soil testing and apply fewer applications of chemicals and unnecessary fertilizer and lime. Flagler has also coordinated and delivered the Rutgers Master Gardener program, which started in Bergen County in 1984 by his predecessor, Dr. Ralph Pearson. He has trained thousands of laypersons who volunteer in county parks, take leadership roles in community shade tree and environmental organizations, disseminate Rutgers information at Earth Day events and environmental fairs and more. The Master Gardener program is now found in nearly all NJ counties, owing to the successes demonstrated in Bergen County.

A registered horticultural therapist, Flagler has put a unique understanding of the relationship of plants and humans to work by developing the first curricula in horticultural therapy (HT) in the Department of Plant Biology at Rutgers.

He has always believed that no one should be denied the benefits of working with plants. He has worked with the disability community, housing authorities, prisons, and veterans’ facilities and helped to re-connect people with plants and nature. It has always been his belief that successes with plants can lead to other successes in our lives; and everyone can have these successes on some level.

Rutgers is one of just a handful of universities that has a fully accredited certificate program in Horticultural Therapy, and it has served as a model for programs all over the world. In October 2024, Flagler addressed the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association national conference and serves as a mentor for many students in the U.S. and Canada.

“Growing food is a common objective in many Horticultural Therapy programs. It is empowering for individuals and families to eat what they have grown, and to share produce with those in need. The use of raised beds and specialized growing containers is promoted widely for best yields and to accommodate individuals who use wheelchairs,” said Flagler.

He has also created more than 40 HT programs in New Jersey, which were designed to serve veterans, post-stroke seniors, developmentally disabled individuals, correctional youth and other special needs populations. The settings are for healing, rehabilitation and training; and always focus on people growing plants, and plants “growing” people.

The seeds of a life in horticulture and appreciating the restorative power of plants were sown some 55 years ago when Flagler was in his first year at Rutgers in 1970. He is quick to give credit to Rutgers and to recognize how Rutgers saw in him things he did not see himself—like how to connect his passion for agriculture with his passion for psychology. The ongoing encouragement he received as an undergraduate student prepared him for success at Yale University, where he earned a master’s degree in forestry on a full fellowship.

At Rutgers, his key mentors and advisors were Dr. Jim Applegate, Dr. Lenny Wolgast, and advisor Tom Concannon. “I am forever grateful to them, and for the total environment of encouragement on the Cook campus,” said Flagler.

In his 38-year career, Flagler has won numerous awards for his life’s work in horticulture. Among the most meaningful is the 2022 Distinguished Service Award by the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association, which recognizes the contributions of an individual who has given their time and resources to support and grow the horticulture industry in New Jersey.

He’s also very proud to have been a two-time national winner of the Communications awards given by the National Association of County Agriculture Agents. Flagler has also twice received the Extension Award for Diversity, which recognizes his work for underserved audiences and the disability community.