Oregon
Horticultural
Services
AT A G L A N C E
Horticultural Services Benefits
Economic, Social, Environmental
H
orticultural services include landscape architectural services, landscape
contracting businesses, landscape construction professionals, and landscape maintenance. Landscape architects are registered by the state of
Oregon; landscape contracting businesses and landscape construction professionals are licensed. Landscape maintenance services are not regulated by the
state. This service sector includes a wide array of businesses including casual,
part-time, and temporary service providers. A post-secondary education is
not required for success; modest beginnings may serve as business incubators for entrepreneurs.
Individual firms within these groups offer design, installation, or
maintenance of landscape and hardscape elements, according to the
terms of their license or registration. Some providers tailor their
services to very specific clientele bases—for example, providing
seeding, fertilization, and erosion control services to highway
construction projects. The clientele are highly diverse and
include commercial, institutional, public sector, privately held
businesses and residential properties. Recreational resources,
including parks and golf courses, benefit from horticultural
services. As the baby boom generation ages, demand for
landscape maintenance, often a do-it-yourself project, is
expected to increase.
Oregon Horticultural Services
The National Gardening Association publishes an annual national gardening survey, which highlights many aspects of gardening activities and products. According to the 2004 survey:
n The most important consumers for landscape maintenance and contractor
services are 45 or older, have household incomes above $50,000, are located
in the southern or western United States, and have no children at home.
n Nationally, about 29% of households hire landscape maintenance services.
n In 2004, lawn care service was the most accessed service nationally, with
16.4 million households purchasing some level of service. Landscape maintenance and landscape installation services were accessed by an additional
8.2 million households, while 1.6 million households used the services of
landscape architects.
Many Oregonians embrace an outdoor lifestyle; parks are an important
public resource. Oregon counties, municipalities, school districts, and other
entities control over 34,000 acres of land in parks and playing fields. Golf
courses account for an additional 14,000 acres of maintained turf. Although
much of the land in state- and federally owned parks is forested, these
resources generally include a small portion of turf in high-use and service
areas surrounding parking lots, restrooms, picnic areas and camping facilities. Lawns associated with developed properties add to Oregon’s turf. While
it remains a very small percentage of the state’s total land area, turf adds to the
human experience and has the potential for environmental impacts.
Undergraduate education within Oregon State University’s Department of Horticulture includes a turf maintenance program. Since the late
1970s, more than 80% of Oregon State turf program graduates have taken
positions with the golf industry. Oregon State University alumni serve as
superintendents of prominent golf courses including Bandon Dunes, Pebble
Beach, and Pronghorn. The Oregon State turf program has earned national
recognition for its development of grass mixes that require less water and
fewer chemical applications. Management of many golf courses reflects
departmental inspiration. Program graduates maintain high standards for
environmental stewardship of their properties without compromising function, form, or rigor of their courses.
The lawn and garden equipment manufacturing and wholesale and retail
sales sectors in Oregon contribute over 13,000 full- and part-time jobs,
account for more than $716 million in sales at the retail level, and an additional $104 million in sales at the wholesale and manufacturing levels. This
grouping of industries accounts for an additional $522 million in value added.
These data represent economic contributions by sales to retail as well as commercial and industrial consumers.
Lawn and garden equipment and greenhouses are manufactured in
Oregon. The 2005 Impacts of the Green Industry report referred to one Oregon
manufacturer with about 50 employees. For confidentiality reasons, the source
report suppressed specific data for Oregon.
Landscape Architecture
Number of Oregon firms Value of services provided Number of full and part-time jobs Annual wages paid
84
$43 million
543
$16 million
Landscape Contracting & Maintenance Services
Number of Oregon firms
Value of services provided Number of full and part-time jobs Annual wages paid
1,100
$460 million
9,200
$143 million
Some generalizations about the demand for lawn and
garden equipment can be made, however. The popularity
of golf fuels purchases of professional-grade equipment.
Lawnmowers and lawnmower parts are a significant
portion of the equipment sold in Oregon. Equipment
maintenance and repair are an important “spin-off” of
retail sales, providing local market niches to many small,
independent service providers. National surveys have
developed this profile of the purchaser of higher end lawn
and garden equipment:
n Gender is predictive of lawnmower purchases; men
choose the
majority of
lawnmowers sold
in the United States. For
men 45 years and above, these are
often equipment upgrades for innovative
features. Women who purchase
lawn mowers tend to choose
light-weight and
electricpowered
equipment.
n Age: 45 years and older.
n Marital status: Married.
n Annual income: $75,000+.
Oregon Horticultural Services
The manufacturing and sales sectors of Oregon’s green
industry benefit from the American propensity for do-ityourself projects. The National Gardening Association’s
2004 survey is the source for the following data:
n About 3 out of 4 U.S. households engage in some kind
of do-it-yourself yard or garden project each year.
n U.S. consumers spend about $450 per year per household on their yards and gardens. Estimated average
spending on plants is about $140 per household per
year.
n Consumers with highly specific requirements for plant
materials shop among multiple retail outlets to satisfy
their needs. Retail outlets differentiate themselves
by selection, as well as the service and horticultural
knowledge of the staff.
n Retail outlets are highly diverse in many markets and
include home centers, independent garden centers,
mass merchandisers, and hardware, feed, grocery, and
drug stores.
n Sales of plant materials by mail order continue and
Internet sales are a closely related and increasingly
important outlet.
Green Industry Wholesale, Retail, & Manufacturing Sectors
Number
Volume Value added
1
of jobs of sales
impacts
($ millions) ($ millions)
Lawn & garden equipment, greenhouse manufacture
78 18
6
Wholesale floral, nursery stock, equipment distribution 719
28
19
Lawn & garden equipment wholesale
546
58
38
Manufacture, distribution, and wholesale subtotals
1343
104
63
Retail nurseries
6,381
407
265
Retail florists
2,249
66
36
Lawn & garden stores, building supply
1,388
114
74
Retail grocery and drug stores2
460
29
18
General merchandize chain stores2
1,435 100
66
Retail subtotals 11,913
716
459
Grand total
13,256
820
522
Notes
Economic data in this section are from Economic Impacts of the Green Industry in the United States: Final Report to the National
Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Committee, by C.R. Hall, A.W. Hodges, and J.J. Haydu; and from the National Garden Association’s Lawn and Garden Market Survey.
1
Includes full- and part-time jobs.
2
Refers only to the lawn and garden related activities of these retailers.
Oregon Horticultural Services
Developed landscapes provide the following benefits:
n Reduce heat absorbed and stored by buildings and
pavement. $ ❦ 
n Increase evaporative cooling of air. $ ❦ 
n Improve air quality, reduce atmospheric carbon
dioxide. ❦
n Reduce stormwater runoff, stabilize urban stream
flows. $ ❦ 
n Add color, form, texture, and line to the built
landscape, and soften built surfaces. 
n Reduce street noise, especially at stressful higher
frequencies. ❦ 
n Promote use of outdoor public spaces. 
n Promote safe, social interactions in neighborhoods,
and are associated with reduced violence. $ 
n Provide wildlife habitat in urban settings. ❦ 
n Substantially reduce building energy consumption.
$
n Reduce heat loss from buildings by reducing surface
wind speeds. $ ❦
n Add value to the view of the neighborhood. $ 
n Stabilize or increase residential and commercial
property values. $ 
n Promote increased spending in well-landscaped business areas, because consumers lengthen their shopping
visits. $
n Reduce sick days and promote job satisfaction of office
workers who have a view of landscapes. $ 
n Promote a sense of well being, provide pleasure,
inspiration, spiritual connection. 
n Reduce mental fatigue, promote concentration, and
reduce stress responses. 
n Improve sleep, and reduce need for pain medication
for post-operative patients. $ 
n Reduce risk of skin cancer and cataracts. $ 
n Offer benefits characterized as “ecosystem services of
landscapes” (these are detailed at http://www.fs.fed.
us/ecosystemservices/ and http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html among many other
references). $ ❦ 
Benefits key
$ Economic benefit
❦Environmental benefit

Social benefit
References for benefits from developed landscapes
Anderson, L.M., and H.K. Cordell. 1988. Residential property values improved by landscaping with trees. Southern
Journal of Applied Forestry 9:162-166.
Dwyer, J.F., E.G. McPherson, H.W. Schroeder and R.A. Rowntree. 1992. Assessing the benefits and costs of the
urban forest. Journal of Arboriculture 18(5):227-234.
Hall, C.R., A.W. Hodges, and J.J. Haydu. 2005. Economic Impacts of the Green Industry in the United States: Final
Report to the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Committee.
Hardy, J., B. Behe, S. Barton, T. Page, R. Schutzki, K. Muzii, T. Fernandez, T. Haque, J. Brooker, C. Hall, R. Hinson, P.
Knight, R. McNiel, D. Rowe, and C. Safley. 2000. Consumer preferences for plant size, type of plant material
and design sophistication in residential landscaping. Journal of Environmental Horticulture 18(4):224-230
Heisler, G.M. 1986. Energy savings with trees. Journal of Arboriculture 12(5):113-125.
Kaplan, R., and S. Kaplan. 1989. The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, UK.
Kaplan, R. 1992. Citation missing from primary source.
McPherson, E.G., J.R. Simpson, P.J. Peper, and Q. Xiao. 1999. Benefit-cost analysis of Modesto’s municipal urban
forest. Journal of Arboriculture 25(5):235-248.
Platt, R.H., R.A Rowntree, and P.C. Muick, eds. 1994. The Ecological City. Boston, MA, University of Massachusetts.
Simpson, J.R. 1998. Urban forest impacts on regional space conditioning energy use: Sacramento County case
study. Journal of Arboriculture 24(4):201-214.
Sullivan, W.C. and E.E. Kuo. 1996. Do trees strengthen urban communities, reduce domestic violence? Arborist
News 5(2):33-34.
Taha, H. 1996. Modeling impacts of increased urban vegetation on odistrict air quality in the South Coast Air Basin.
Atmospheric Environment 30:3423-3430.
Tretheway, R., and A. Manthe. 1999. Skin cancer prevention: another good reason to plant trees. In Proceedings of
the Best of the West Summit, ed. E.G. McPherson and S. Mathis. University of California, Davis, CA.
Ulrich, R. S. 1985. Human responses to vegetation and landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning 13:29-44.
Wolf, K.L. 1999. Nature and commerce: human ecology in business districts. In Building Cities of Green: Proceedings of the 1999 National Urban Forest Conference, ed. C. Kollin, 56-59. American Forests, Washington, D.C..
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