• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was conducted as part of research to promote garden diversity and seek sustainable garden management plans, as well as to determine the trends in understanding and use of companion plants as an eco-friendly farming method and provide the results as the basic data for sustainable urban agriculture. Methods: To determine the trends in garden activities, eco-friendly pest control, and use of companion plants, a survey was conducted on 230 urban residents participating in the Urban Agriculture Expert course. 223 copies of the questionnaire were collected excluding missing values, and IBM SPSS statistics Ver. 25 Program was used for frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, and regression analysis. Results: Most of the respondents were female (71.3%), homemakers (26.5%), were in their 50s (29.1%), and had 2 members in the family (27.8%). 164 respondents (73.5%) had experience in gardening, most of them once a week (31.7%) and for self-consumption (55.5%). Both men and women raised crops for safe food production (32.3%), and they most preferred the city garden type (39.9%). For the preparation of nourishment for eco-friendly garden management, most respondents (60.1%) purchased fertilizers from the market. For the reason why eco-friendly pest control is necessary, all respondents except 4 of them (98.2%) responded that it is necessary 'because it affects my health as I eat it (73.5%)', indicating that they still had a high level of interest in health. Only 43.9% of the respondents said that they had heard of companion plants, 89.2% responded that companion plants were effective in eco-friendly management, and 87.4% showed the will to participate in gardening using companion plants in the future. Finally, the regression analysis confirmed that the awareness of companion plants and satisfaction with gardening activities are key variables that increase the intention to participate in gardening activities in the future. Conclusion: Since plants require special care depending on the period and various diseases and insect pests occur, there must be continuous research on companion plants as an eco-friendly farming method. Moreover, by actively using companion plants in urban gardens with the utility value in not only eco-friendly pest control but also in helping plant growth, urban agriculture is expected to be continuously activated and promoted by increasing satisfaction in gardening activities with aesthetic landscaping and pest control.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.6 s.119
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• pp.54-65
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• 2007

There is little research on the exterior spaces or gardens of single detached urban dwellings in Korea because apartments are the general housing type of most inhabitants. However there is an increasing demand for idyllic houses in the urban fringe and for environmentally friendly dwellings or healthy houses that is represented in urban residents gardening activities. The purpose of this research is to analyze residents' preferences and problems in gardening and management of single detached urban dwellings, and to evaluate the possibility of gardens as biotopes. It also addresses the issue of providing public amenities in the urban landscape. One hundred thirty-six dwellings were selected in residential areas of the city of Gwangju. The layout and plant composition, residents' evaluation and understanding of their own gardens, and maintenance and management were investigated. The results indicated that residents associate gardening with mental health and recognized a lack of space as one environmental restriction. Watering was seen as a primary difficulty for maintaining gardens. This research suggests that providing space for gardening could be a tool for participatory community making. When considering the important aspects of gardening, residents responded that gardens offer naturalness, scenic beauty, and practicality and also felt that gardens provide a buffer from environmental pollution and relief from mental duress. Results from the factor analysis using 15 semantic differential variables showed that 'spatial openness', 'natural variety' and 'familiarity' were representative factors. Although a garden is mainly considered as a space for the appreciation of nature with plant material, our results suggest that meaning and environmental symbolism are important elements.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.565-576
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• 2020

Background and objective: The elderly living in homeless living facilities for a long time suffer from various mental health problems. This study aims to determine the psychological, emotional, and social effects of a horticultural therapy program composed of gardening activities, which was designed based on the semantic structures of life for the homeless elderly living in the facilities for a long time. Methods: A total of 12 subjects (6 in the control group and 6 in the experimental group) participated in the study. The horticultural therapy program consisted mainly of gardening activities, and a total of 16 sessions were conducted once a week for 16 weeks, 60-90 minutes per session. The subjects were tested to evaluate their self-esteem, depression, and horticultural activities. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon rank test, and Friedman test, which were nonparametric tests, conducted at a 95% significance level. Results: First, in the case of self-esteem, a significant difference was found between the groups, 20.00 points (SD = 5.69) in the control group, and 25.50 points (SD = 3.73) in the experimental group (p = .034). Second, in the case of depression, no statistically significant difference was found in the posttest. Finally, in the case of the horticultural activity evaluation, the scores of most variables gradually and significantly increased during the program [Verbal interaction during activity (p = .006), Self-concept and identity (p = .006), Need-drive adaptation (p < .001), Interpersonal and social relations (p < .001)]. Conclusion: These results support that the horticultural therapy program could help the elderly improve psychological relaxation, emotional stability, and social relationships. In order to generalize the results, it is suggested to increase the number of subjects or conduct additional repetitive experiments in further research.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.513-527
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• 2016

The objective of the present study was to review the current research about the outcomes of horticultural activity interventions in order to determine research trends and analyze the characteristics of horticultural activity interventions. We reviewed the literature using search engines such as the Web of Science, Proquest Dissertation and Theses, Academic Search Premier, Research Information sharing Service, and Korean National Assembly Digital Library to locate journal articles that include relevant search terms (e.g., gardening activity, gardening program, allotment garden, urban agriculture, horticultural therapy, and horticultural activity). We initially identified 14,414 journal articles that were published before April 2014 and selected 509 of the papers for review. We found that studies investigating treating children and adults 8 to 64 years old were the most common, and horticultural activities such as gardening outdoors, planting indoors, making crafts with live plants, arranging flowers, making crafts with artificial or pressed flowers, and other activities were usually combined. Short/medium term (11 to 20 sessions) horticultural activity programs were the most frequent, and most interventions were of medium duration (> 60 min to 120 min). Most of the studies focused on the psychological or emotional effects of horticultural intervention, such as its effects on emotional intelligence, self-esteem, stress, and depression. Further studies are needed to analyze the research methodology, specific outcomes, and strengths or weaknesses of studies investigating horticultural activity interventions.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the exhibition displays and events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall in the Agricultural Technology Exhibition 2018 on satisfaction and revisit intention of visitors. A survey was conducted on visitors of the Agro-healing Experience Hall and the responses of 274 visitors excluding 26 cases with inappropriate responses were analyzed. For psychological measurement, the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), Profile of Mood States (POMS), level of plant gardening experience, satisfaction and loyalty were measured. There was a significant difference among age groups in all four factors of the PRS (repose, fascination, coherence, and legibility). In the case of education level, there was a significant difference in the three factors (repose, fascination, and legibility). In addition, average monthly income showed a significant difference among groups in the two factors (fascination and coherence). As a result of analyzing the mood states of visitors for the exhibition events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall, there was a significant difference among age groups only in the case of vigor (p < .05). As a result of analyzing the correlation between the level of plant gardening activities (3 factors) and PRS (4 factors) in the exhibition events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall, plant preference tendency and plant-related event showed a high positive correlation of 0.5 or more with repose of the PRS factors. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of the level of plant gardening activities, PRS and POMS on the satisfaction and loyalty of visitors. As a result, it was found that in terms of relative explanatory power over independent variables affecting satisfaction and revisit intention, fascination had the greatest effect, followed by vigor, fatigue, and occupation (company employee). The results of this study suggest that exhibition events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall affect repose, fascination or vigor of visitors, and thus can be used positively to increase satisfaction and revisit intention of visitors.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2013

Present study analyzes the rooftop gardening status, floristic composition and cost and return of the rooftop garden in Sylhet City Corporation of northeastern Bangladesh. Data was collected from 450 rooftop gardeners randomly during July-September 2010. Study reveal that rooftop gardening is generally for mental satisfaction (95.3%) followed by leisure time activity (87.8%) in the study area and almost all the family members of gardeners' were involved; while collection of planting materials, sites preparation and marketing of products were reported to be carried out by males only (male 71.33%). Middle income classes were most interested in rooftop gardening (43.78%). The survey recorded 53 plant species (35 families) of which Cucurbitaceae family represented highest eight species. Shrubs (28%) were highest followed by herbs (26%) among agri-crops (36%) and flower species (30%). About 89% of the rooftop gardeners procured planting materials from nursery, market, fair, neighbor, relative and friends and they mostly prefer to use seedlings (48%) for roof gardening followed by direct seed sowing (21%). Gardeners sell products sporadically in different local markets, directly or through intermediaries, with no uniform pricing for system. Rooftop gardening improves the food security and meet nutritional deficiency to the gardeners. Survey revealed that generally very few people consider rooftop gardening commercially to get profit and from the cost-return analysis this gardening system can be economically viable if proper and scientifically managed. The study conclude that active government and NGOs could play vital role to increasing this activities by providing training and motivate people with technical aspects of rooftop gardening.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.521-535
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• 2020

Background and objective: This study investigated plant type and color preference and conducted a psychological assessment for gardening activities of firefighters in a high-risk occupational group. Methods: A survey was conducted on 117 firefighters aged 39.01±9.17 in Sunchang in March 2020 to examine their preferences in plant type and color and conduct a psychological assessment of firefighters on gardening activities. Results: For plant experience and awareness, plant-related event showed the highest score, followed by plant preference tendency and plant growing experience. The level of plant gardening activities was higher among older age and higher job position. As a result of examining the quality of life according to the demographic characteristic with WHOQOL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument), it was found that the quality of life was higher among the 20s-30s than 50s, firefighter position than fire lieutenant or higher, those with higher average monthly income, and the singles group than married (p < .05). The administration group showed lower scores than the fire suppression group working in the field, showing statistical significance. Most firefighters showed high preference for herbal plants among the 12 types of flowering plants, in the order of Rosmarinus officinalis>Lavandula spp.>Mentha piperita, Calendula officinalis. Pelargonium spp. was preferred the least out of the flowering plants, Lycopersicon esculentum was preferred the most out of 12 types of vegetable plants, while Angelica acutiloba was preferred the least statistical significance. For the preference of plant colors, yellow was the most preferred color, followed by white, blue, orange, red, and green, showing statistical significance. For the psychological survey responses of emotion words toward 6 plants colors, it was found that 'bright' was the emotion felt most strongly by the white, yellow, and orange groups, 'calm' and 'comfortable' by the green and blue groups, and 'fancy' by the red group. Conclusion: The effect of agro-healing programs can be increased by using mostly yellow plants when creating indoor healing gardens at the workplaces of fire officials in a high-risk occupational group, and using herbal plants and Lycopersicon esculentum in the gardens for agro-healing activities.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.159-170
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to understand the current status of education and programs and to identify the items that urban residents need most for garden management. First of all, there were 45 sites (40.5%) with gardens operated by city and county local governments nationwide, and 41(91.1%) of them had dedicated staff (1.8 persons on average). The average area of gardens was 18,623 m², garden area per person was 20.27m², the average number of participants was 683, and the average period of use was 8.69 months. In addition to gardening activities, 14 (31.1%) out of 45 sites were operating small group meetings, with an average of 2.29 meetings and 67 participants. In the satisfaction survey after gardening activities, 88.9% of 18 sites were satisfied. According to the questionnaire about education and programs related to garden users, an average of four sessions were conducted per education. In terms of education, the contents were in the following order: basic education on garden cultivation (33.9%) > prior education on garden operation (28.9%) > pest control (14.0%) > eco-friendly management (11.6%) > pesticides and Positive List System (9.9%) > others (1.7%). Over 95% of the respondents were generally satisfied. Regarding the perception survey on which items are needed to develop garden management guidelines, the most necessary items were in the order of crop management (38.7%) > public garden etiquettes among users (27.9%) > pest control (14.4%) > weed management (13.5%) > activities using harvest (5.4%). The contents that are to be included in the guidelines were in the order of garden planning and crop selection (17.2%) > cultivation techniques and schedule (16.5%) > pest and soil management (15.7%) > introduction of garden crops and gardening models (12.7%) > garden etiquettes (10.7%). In establishing urban garden management plans by region, the results will have high utility value as the basic data for continuous garden operation by setting a direction that meets the regional characteristics as well as the needs of urban residents.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.779-794
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• 2016

In this study, a functional vegetable garden model is proposed for vegetable gardening users in urban areas to grow different vegetables for various purposes. H vegetable garden user(uneducated) and Y vegetable garden user(educated) urban vegetable gardening users were provided with the functional vegetable garden model and allowed to manage their allocated gardens directly. As the issues raised by the field work and its associated solutions were investigated, the opinions from each group were compared and analyzed. The conclusions are as follows. First, according to the usage survey for vegetable gardening, both groups responded that they had mostly cultivated vegetables. Second, with regard to the kinds of vegetables cultivated in autumn, both groups chose the vegetables required for producing Kimchi. Third, both groups responded that their interest in growing various plants was the major motivation to start gardening. Fourth, regarding the inclusion of flowers and herbs in the functional vegetable garden, more than 90% of the members of both groups responded that the level of the inclusion was appropriate or could be higher.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.27-38
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the future users of a children's garden felt about the designing and operation of the children's garden, which is to be constructed within Korea National Arboretum. For this study, a total of 1,855 elementary school children were selected and then classified by sex and grade. The survey had been carried out to examine the following five items: necessity and advantages of the garden, plants suitable for it, artificial facilities required for it, its space structure, programs necessary for educational activities, and operation programs. The results are as follows: 1. Necessity and advantages of the children's garden: Some 87.7% of respondents said the garden is needed, it would serve for environmental preservation, it would function as a resting place, and it would have educational effect; 2. Plants suitable for it: Uncommon plants which have flowers of several colors; 3. Artificial facilities required for it: Places for experience and rest; 4. Programs necessary for educational activities: maze experiencing and gardening; and 5. Operation programs: Some 86.3% of the respondents said they are needed. They thought educational programs providing the activities of experiencing would be preferable. This study provides basic materials for the planning and designing of the children's garden. When constructing the garden, we should have enough prior discussion for the matters listed above. Furthermore, it is needed to develop several educational programs for efficient operation and management.