can reduce winter heat loss and are generally warmer

can reduce winter heat loss and are generally warmer than homes without such protection. By using trees to modify temperatures and protect against wind, the amount of fossil fuels used for cooling and heating is reduced.

Landscaping screens busy streets. Well-placed plantings offer privacy and tranquillity by screening our busy street noises and reducing glare from headlights.

Attractive Landscape Increases

Value of Home by 7 Percent

Landscaping increases property market value. A 1991 study estimates that an attractive landscape increases the values of a home by an average of 7.5 percent, and reduces the time on the market by,five to six weeks. The wall Street Journal reported that landscape investments are recovered fully, and sometimes doubled, by the increased home value.

Good landscaping increases community appeal. Parks and street trees have been found to be second only to education in residents’ perceived value of municipal services offered. Psychologist Rachel Kaplan found trees, well-landscaped grounds, and places for taking walks to be among the most important factors considered when individuals chose a place to live.

Landscaping reduces crime. In a California study, landscaped areas were relatively graffiti-free, while open, non landscapes areas were graffiti targets. Well-planned and maintained landscapes are seen as safer than unmaintained plantings.

Plants increase tourism reyenues. Interior landscaping at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, is credited for an unusually high (85 percent) occupancy rate. Guests willingly pay an extra $30 per night for rooms overlooking the jungle-like display, netting $7 million a year in additional room revenues. The city of Virginia Beach attributes, in part, the $52 million in convention revenue for 1994 to landscaping efforts.

Views of plants increase job satisfaction. Employees with an outside view of plants experience less job pressure and greater job satisfaction fhan workers viewing man-made objects or having no outside view. They also report fewer headaches and other ailments than workers without the view. Landscaping renews business districts. Greening of business districts increases community pride and positive perception of an area, drawing customers to the businesses.

An Hour of Weeding

Burns 300 Calories

Gardening is excellent physical exercise. Routine gardening tasks such as shoveling, rototilling, and even mowing grass with a push-type, reel lawn mower can measure up to the exertion rates of jogging, bicycling, or aerobics. Studies have shown that one hour of weeding bums 300 calories — the same as walking or bicycling at a moderate pace.

Gardens produce healthy food. Fresh food from the garden can have up to three times as many vitamins and minerals as canned or frozen food. Community garden plots have become a valuable means of providing food for the homeless.

Horticulture is therapeutic. Horticultural therapy is a treatment for a variety of diagnoses. Working with and around plants improves quality of life through psychological and physical changes. Nurturing a plant into maturity from seed is Regarding and builds self-confidence. Various horticulture-related tasks such as planting trees or arranging flowers are used to improve coordination and motor control.

Landscapes heal. Restorative gardens offer an environment for people who are sick, injured, and under stress to recover and regain confidence. Landscapes also are currently used by hospices in treatment of Alzheimer and AIDS patients. Roger Ulrich showed that hospital patients whose rooms overlooked vegetation recovered faster and required less pain medication than did patients without a view of nature.

Dr. Diane Relf is a horticulture specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension and is a member of the faculty of Virginia Tech.