Exploring drivers and motivations behind garden management for climate change adaptation

Serving as an integral part of urban green infrastructure, the collective network of domestic gardens could make a substantial contribution to climate change adaptation. Nevertheless, these private outdoor spaces are autonomously managed by many individual gardeners, often prioritizing aesthetics and maintenance convenience, rather than environmental considerations. Understanding how people manage their gardens, and why they make certain gardening decisions is crucial for unlocking the climate adaptation potential of gardens, shedding light on the current situation and identifying opportunities for change. Unfortunately, limited research has been conducted on the personal drivers behind gardeners’ decisions. Therefore, our research aims at unveiling current gardening practices and their drivers through an online citizen science survey of Flemish domestic garden owners (n = 827). Using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach, we studied how motivations, knowledge, spatial- and socio-economic factors are associated with garden management decisions related to sealed soil, lawns, and tree cover. Our findings show that factors such as spatial context, socio-economic status, and personal motivations are more critical in shaping garden composition and management. The results stress the complexity of garden management, where traditional practices and cultural perceptions coexist with a growing ecological awareness and highlights the intricate relationship between local contexts and the diverse personal drivers influencing individual gardeners' decisions. By recognizing this interconnectedness, we emphasize the need for gardening policies tailored to spatial and socio-economic variations and offer insights that can inform urban planners and policymakers on how to harness the untapped climate adaptation potential within these private outdoor spaces.