People and their plants: The effect of an educational comic on gardening intentions

Environmental weeds have ecologic and economic costs, harming native vegetation and costing the agricultural industry billions of dollars annually. Many environmental weeds are garden escapees; thus, what the public chooses to plant in their gardens is important. This research investigated the environmental attitudes (related to environmental weeds) of residents in the City of Knox, Melbourne, Australia and whether illustrative education (comic) could influence participants to choose native plants in the future. Two identical surveys (total 2000) were sent to residents chosen randomly within the City of Knox; half of the surveys had a comic added that demonstrated the pathway garden plants could take to invade bushland. Responses (n = 181) indicated that the majority of respondents hold pro-environmental attitudes in regards to gardens and environmental weeds, with most agreeing that residential gardens are important for urban areas and that gardeners have a responsibility to the environment when it comes to the use of plants that may be invasive. The results showed that significantly more participants that received the comic indicated they would choose mostly natives in the future than did those who did not receive the comic.