The gravitation towards a strong environmental priority by the respondents to my survey suggests that the industry in general views itself as environmentally friendly. Indeed, they work with “natural” plants, in the outdoors, and are probably quite aware of the ecosystems in their area because they are knowledgeable about the taxonomy and botany of their area – or at least that which relates to horticultural plants. Gardens and gardening in general is often viewed by Americans as an environmentally friendly activity. Smith and Hawken, a gardening catalog and store (not included in my survey) is based on the premise that gardening with their products helps their customers “affirm a real connection to their surroundings in an environmentally responsible way.” Despite gardening’s sometimes heavy dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, it is viewed as a way to be environmentally responsible. Avoiding invasive plants, however, is not necessarily part of the nursery industry’s view of environmental responsibility.

The vast majority of respondents (65/76 – 85%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that their business places a high priority on environmental concerns. In general, self-defined environmental concern does not correlate with specific behaviors about invasive plants. Environmental priority does seem to coincide with the respondent’s position, however. None of the 3 respondents who chose “5-strongly disagree” were owners; 2 were full-time employees and 1 was a manager. However, both of the respondents who chose “4” were owners, and 5/6 of the respondents who chose “3” were owners (the sixth was a full time employee).  The full-time employees had a lower, though not significant statistically, general view of their business’s environmental priority. Of 7 full-time employees who responded to the survey,  the mean response was 2.86, with a 95% confidence interval of (1.40, 4.31). The owners and managers had similar average environmental priorities, with 1.61 for the 51 owners, with confidence interval of (1.38, 1.84) and 1.68 for the 19 managers, with a 95% confidence interval of (1.23, 2.14).

Another reason for the view of the industry as environmentally responsible is its role in educating the public. Nurseries and garden centers are a source of information about plants and plant care – in fact, The Nature Conservancy suggests that gardeners who want more information about invasive plants in their area go to local nurseries.

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