• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.170-178
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• 2022

Purpose: Gardening has been reported to have positive emotional and physical effects in older adults. However, limited studies have assessed this relationship in Korea. Therefore, in this pilot study of densely populated urban dwellers, we aimed to investigate whether temporary but repeated experiences of the natural environment could positively change metabolism-related blood indicators. Methods: This study used pre- and post-interventional designs to investigate the effects of 16 weeks of gardening on lipid profiles in an urban adult population and investigate their relationships. This study was conducted 30 times at the H Botanical Garden in Yongin City from August 16, 2021 to November 30, 2021 (16 weeks, twice a week, 3 hours each time). Before and after the gardening program, a clinical pathologist collected blood samples from the participants. Results: High-density lipoprotein levels increased, low-density lipoprotein levels decreased, and total cholesterol levels decreased after the gardening activity. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that gardening has potential for clinical application as it has good control over the lipid profile through physical activity. These findings can be used as basic data for studying the relationship between urban populations and their living environment and for various studies in the future as experiencing the natural environment provides many health benefits.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.257-270
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• 2016

This study was to investigate the perception and the usability of gardening program in a community for protection of school bullying at a middle school. The data collected from 640persons of middle school students, their parents, teachers, residents, NPO staffs for youth, active persons in urban agriculture and farming at 3communities during 2014.10.21.~2014.11.5. The degree on necessity of gardening program to protect school bullying were statistical significant different by age, garden experience, understanding and exchanging with youth and neighbors, keeping relationship or communication between school and family or residents. Most of parents, teachers prefer to increase the family counseling program by NPOs for protection of school bullying. On the contrary, concerns in urban agriculture and farming strengthened to cheer up gardening program for youth. In this study also, it was agreed that gardening program is useful for protection of school bullying and for stability of emotional safety for youth involving in middle school students. From these results, gardening program will be more contribution to communications and exchanges between school, student's family and their community persons as like neighbors, NPO staffs, concerns in urban agriculture and farming.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.451-460
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• 2021

Background and objective: The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on mental health, which has emerged as a major public health issue around the world. This study aimed to analyze trends and network structure of 'grow-your-own (GYO)' through Instagram, one of the most influential social media platforms, to encourage and sustain home gardening activities for promotion of emotional support and physical health. Methods: A total of 6,388 posts including keyword hashtags '#gyo' and '#growyourown' on Instagram from June 13, 2020 to April 13, 2021 were collected. Word embedding was performed using Word2Vec library, and 7 clusters were identified with K-means clustering: GYO, garden and gardening, allotment, kitchen garden, sustainability, urban gardening, etc. Moreover, we conducted social network analysis to determine the centrality of related words and visualized the results using Gephi 0.9.2. Results: The analysis showed that various combinations of words, such as #growourrownfood, #growourrownveggies, and #growwhatyoueat revealed preference and interest of users in GYO, and appeared to encourage their activities on Instagram. In particular, #gardeningtips, #greenfingers, #goodlife, #gardeninglife, #gardensofinstagram were found to express positive emotions and pride as a gardener by sharing their daily gardening lives. Users were participating in urban gardening through #allotment, #raisedbeds, #kitchengarden and we could identify trends toward self-sufficiency and sustainable living. Conclusion: Based on these findings, it is expected that the trend data of GYO, which is a form of urban gardening, can be used as the basic data to establish urban gardening plans considering each characteristic, such as the emotions and identity of participants as well as their dispositions.

• 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.

• 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.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2020

Urban problems raised by the concentration of population in urban areas have caused residents to migrate to other regions while causing other problems such as deteriorated infrastructure, traffic and environmental pollution problems in existing urban areas. As an alternative to improve this phenomenon, urban regeneration has emerged, and under the assumption that creating community vegetable gardens is effective in revitalizing cities considering their physical, social and cultural environment, frequency and descriptive analyses were conducted on the vegetable gardens in Jungnosong-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, Korea to examine differences in the components of the surrounding environment and the settlement, and community spirit of the two groups comprised of 30 and 35 persons who did not and did participate in gardening respectively. Regression analysis were conducted to determine whether there were changes in community spirit after participating in gardening. As a component of the surrounding environment, gardening and fence management were found to be important for both the groups, and they seemed to have high satisfaction with their residence because they wanted to continue to live in their neighborhood. Overall, the satisfaction evaluation results showed that those who participated in gardening showed a higher satisfaction level than those who did not. Based on the changes in community spirit after participating in the activity, it was found that there was a high level of perception in all the components, indicating that the gardening had a positive effect on the cultivation of community spirit. As such, the spaces called vegetable gardens are not only for doing physical activities but also as shared conversation topics, and through the activities in the gardens, changes in the awareness of local residents can be brought about through the formation of social networks and natural communication between neighbors. It can be concluded that they encourage residents to actively participate in improving the urban environment through activities such as planting.

• 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.43 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2015

This study explores urban gardening and garden culture in residential area as an everydayness that has been overlooked during the modern period urbanization and investigates the meaning and value of urban gardening from the perspective of urban formations and growth in spontaneous urban residential area, Haebangchon. The result identified that urban gardening as a meaning of contemporary culture is a new clue to improving the urban physical environment and changing the lives and community network of residents. Haebangchon is one of the few remaining spontaneous habitations in Seoul, and was created as a temporary unlicensed shantytown in 1940s. It became the representative habitation for common people in downtown Seoul through the revitalization of the 60s and the local reform through self-sustaining redevelopment projects during the 70s through the 90s. This area still contains the image of times during the 50s to the 60s, the 70s to the 80s and present, with the percentage of long-term stay residents high. Within this context, the site is divided into third quarters, and the research undertaken by observation and investigation to determine characteristics of urban gardening as an everydayness. It can be said that urban gardening and garden culture in Haebangchon is a unique location culture that has accumulated in the crevices of the physical condition and culture of life. These places are an expression of resident's desires that seeking out nature and gardening as revealed in densely-populated areas and the grounds of practical acting and participating in care and cultivation. It forms a unique, indigenous local landscape as an accumulation of everyday life of residents. Urban gardens in detached home has retained the original function of the dwelling and the garden, or 'madang', and takes on the characteristic of public space through the sharing of a public nature as well as semi-private spatial characteristic. Also, urban gardens including small kitchen garden and flowerpots that appear in the narrow streets provide pleasure as a part of nature that blossoms in narrow alley and functions as a public garden for exchanging with neighbors by sharing produce. This paper provides the concept of redefining the relationship between the private-public area that occurs between outside spaces that are cut off in a modern city.

• 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.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.329-339
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was conducted to obtain empirical data for deriving necessary items for the creation and management of gardens in urban agricultural parks while maintaining the publicness of the place by examining the difference in perception among park visitors about the gardens in the public parks. Methods: A survey was conducted on users of urban agricultural parks in 6 locations and 113 copies of the questionnaire were collected. After understanding the demographic characteristics and the current use of the garden, we identified the importance of the necessary items for the public gardens. Results: 108 subjects(95.6%) responded that gardens are needed in urban parks, for psychological and emotional health (26.2%) and for interaction and friendship with family and neighbors(23.2%). For use of garden crops, most were private sales(96 subjects, 64.4%), and both sales preferred to partially donate their crops. Most used communal gardens operated by public institutions(30.1%). It was found that 96.4% of the respondents were satisfied with gardening activities, and 107(94.7%) of them showed their intention to participate in the gardening in the future. The Kaiser Meyer Olkin value was .848 and the significance level was .001, proving the validity of factor analysis. The factors were named composition elements(Factor 1), management items(Factor 2), convenience elements(Factor 3), and operational facilities(Factor 4). In the survey on the creation and management of gardens in urban agricultural parks, there were no statistically significant differences, but all items had correlations. Conclusion: The results have reflected the needs of actual users in establishing the plans to operate urban gardens, thereby having great utility value as the basic data for continuous garden management. Further research can be conducted to derive detailed elements that can guarantee sustainability of urban gardens and suggest high-quality data for management of gardens in urban agricultural parks.