Predicting native plant landscaping preferences in urban areas

The rapidly growing physical footprint of cities makes understanding residential landscaping preferences increasingly important for water quality, biodiversity conservation, and addressing climate change. In this paper we answer four interrelated questions about residential landscaping preferences with a case study in Raleigh, NC: (1) How are residents’ landscaping preferences influenced by what residents believe their neighbors prefer? (2) Do residents accurately assess their neighbors’ landscaping preferences? (3) How does ethnicity influence landscaping preferences? and (4) Do the socio-demographic and neighborhood norm based correlates of landscaping preferences persist when both are accounted for in multivariate models? Respondents (n = 179) in this study preferred a 50% native plant garden design over 100% turf grass or the 75% and 100% native plant garden designs, and inaccurately assumed that their neighbors preferred turf over the native plant garden based landscaping designs. These results suggest that correcting erroneous assumptions about neighborhood preferences may alleviate normative pressure against adopting alternatives to turf grass landscaping. Although landscaping choices were best predicted by what residents perceived their neighbors preferred, ethnicity, income, and home ownership were also related to landscape preferences. African American ethnicity and income were positively related to preference for turf grass coverage. Environmental justice concerns linked to urban vegetation should be considered in light of the finding that African Americans appeared to prefer turf grass dominated landscaping. Results from this study indicate that middle income neighborhoods with high levels of home ownership may prove most receptive to initiatives aimed at increasing the use of more sustainable landscaping.

► 50% native plant garden landscaping designs are preferred over traditional turf designs.
► Neighborhood norms and ethnicity were the most important predictors of landscaping preferences.
► Respondents significantly overestimated their neighbors’ preference for turf grass.
► African Americans preferred turf grass more than Caucasians.
► Income was negatively related to preference for native plant based landscaping.