Public Perception of a Sustainable Landscape Demonstration

Degradation of water quality in urbanizing watersheds due to increased impervious surfaces and removal of natural vegetation and wetlands is well recognized. What is under-appreciated, however, is the conflict between ornamental landscaping practices in urban/suburban ecosystems and water quality management. This project was designed to demonstrate the ecosystem services attained by a change from our current lawn-based landscaping paradigm to one that encourages less-intensive management and allows for a greater abundance and diversity of native flora and fauna.  A suburban landscape was designed and installed in a Delaware residential development that demonstrated sustainable landscape principles i.e. reduced lawn space, strategies for water management, a 6000 square foot meadow, a forested buffer and a predominantly native plant palette. The landscape was managed for 3 years, tracking installation ($31,932) and management costs ($6,921). As most labor following installation was devoted to weeding, these costs are anticipated to decline as the landscape matures. An intercept interview was conducted from July 8-15, 2013, at the two Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in New Castle County, DE. The survey data show the ecosystem services changes were perceived to have a positive impact on people’s quality of life. The most important impacts were found to be: undesirable wildlife (negative); flood control (positive); and water quality (positive).Tours for industry professionals and homeowners were conducted during years 2 and 3. An online survey was conducted in November, 2015 of tour participants. Most visitors attended a tour because they were curious about what a sustainable landscape would look like or because they wanted to get ideas for their own or a client’s landscape.  Most respondents thought the landscape looked different than their own or other landscapes in their neighborhood. While most found the sustainable components of the landscape desirable, fewer were likely to incorporate them in their own home landscapes. The three most positive attributes were greater diversity of wildlife, better water quality and better flood control.  The least desirable attributes were greater initial establishment costs and initial maintenance required (represented by “takes time to establish” and “more initial weeding required”).  For those who toured the site, undesirable wildlife was not an important concern.