A toolbox for garden governance

• ‘Tyranny of small decisions’ can become a ‘resource by small gardening actions’.
• Garden governance aims at developing domestic gardens as resources by small actions.
• Eight barriers hamper this development.
• Nine levers gathered in a toolbox support this development.
• The toolbox allows a mix and match approach to develop tailor-made garden governance strategies.

A substantial fraction of the open space in (peri-) urban and rural areas is covered by domestic gardens which support the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. Although individually they may look insignificant, the aggregation of domestic gardens and of gardening actions can be significant. Referring to ‘the tyranny of small decisions’, we launch the concept of a ‘resource by small gardening actions’: the positive cumulative outcome of individual garden owners adopting pro-environmental gardening practices. Using qualitative research, we gained a thorough insight into the barriers and levers related to the development of domestic gardens as a ‘resource by small gardening actions’. By combining the data from expert interviews with a design workshop addressing garden and landscape architects, and focus groups with private garden owners, we identified eight barriers and nine levers. These levers are part of a ‘mix and match’ toolbox, allowing the development of tailor-made strategies for garden governance. These insights increase the understanding on if and how private actors and their properties could become part of policy plans to support ecosystem services. This adds to the global understanding of the strategic value of daily-life landscapes that exist all over the world.

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