Operational Status of Urban Gardens to Derive Necessary Items of Public Urban Garden Management Guidelines

Abstract

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 ㎡, garden area per person was 20.27㎡, 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.