Vol. 117 (2004): Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society
Ornamental, Garden & Landscape

Organizing plant materials in residential landscapes using citygreen®

Alfredo B. Lorenzo
Florida A&M University

Published 2004-12-01

Keywords

  • decision matrix,
  • landscape design,
  • landscaping benefits,
  • landscape valuation,
  • plant diverstiy

Abstract

Traditional and contemporary residential landscape designs representing different levels of plant diversity and spatial arrangement were evaluated for their values of carbon storage and sequestration, air pollution removal, stormwater runoff control, and home energy savings using CITYgreen®. Despite some shortcomings, CITYgreen® showed potential application in evaluating landscape designs. Decision matrices combined with weighting summation procedures offer homeowners a means to compare alternative landscape plans more objectively. The technique is explained and demonstrated with the use of a hypothetical example.