Urban gardener preferences and values can affect the aesthetics, management, and vegetation complexity of community gardens

作者：Brenda B. Lin, Peter Bichier, Heidi Liere, Shalene Jha, Edith Gonzalez, Stacy M. Philpott · 发表于：Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fsufs.2025.1713684 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Urban Agriculture and Sustainability、Urban Green Space and Health、Biological Control of Invasive Species

Urban community gardens support a great amount of biodiversity, which deliver valuable ecosystem services to the garden and the urban environment. Although research indicates that distinct management practices can support different levels of biodiversity and ecosystem services, management of garden habitat, plant selection, and overall aesthetics are largely based on gardener preferences. In this study, we conducted an online survey across 21 community gardens in Central California to better understand gardener aesthetic and management processes. We presented two selections of images representing common garden management styles to this region and ask respondents to select their preferred garden image and explain why they preferred that image in an open-ended response. We also collected sociodemographic and education background to assess if certain aesthetic and management preferences were associated with specific gardener characteristics. In the first selection of images, gardeners strongly preferred an image they described as tidy and organised (85% of respondents) stating it looked cleaner and was more cared for. They also stated that managed pathways allowed for easier movement around the garden, better access to plots, and prevented the spread of weeds. Participation in the Master Gardener program (a sustainable gardening program provided by the University of California) was correlated with this image preference. In the second selection of images, gardeners did not strong...