Watch your investment grow Landscaping increases property market value. A 1991 study estimates that an attractive landscape increases the value of a home by an average of 7.5 percent, and reduces the time on the market by five to six weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported that landscape investments are recovered fully, and sometimes doubled, by the increased home value. Good landscaping increases community appeal. Parks and street trees have been found to be second only to education in residents' perceived value of municipal services offered. Psychologist Rachel Kaplan found trees, well-landscaped grounds, and places for taking walks to be among the most important factors considered when individuals chose a place to live. Landscaping reduces crime. In a California study, landscaped areas were relatively graffiti-free, while open, nonlandscaped areas were graffiti targets. Well planned and maintained landscapes are seen as safer than unmaintained plantings. Plants increase tourism revenues Interior landscaping at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, is credited for an unusually high (85 percent) occupancy rate. Guests willingly pay an extra $30 per night for rooms overlooking the jungle-like display, netting $7 million a year in additional room revenues. The city of Virginia Beach attributes, in part, their $52 million in convention revenue for 1994 to the landscaping efforts of recent years. Gardens produce healthy food Fresh food from the garden can have up to three times as many vitamins and minerals as canned or frozen food. Community garden plots have become a valuable means of providing food for the homeless. Horticulture is therapeutic. Horticultural therapy is a treatment for a variety of diagnoses. Working with and around plants improves quality of life through psychological and physical changes. Nurturing a plant into maturity from seed is rewarding and builds self- confidence. Various horticulture-related tasks such as carrying plants, planting trees, or arranging flowers are used to improve coordination and motor control of injured or disabled individuals. Landscapes heal. Restorative gardens offer an environment for people who are sick, injured, and under stress to recover and regain confidence in themselves. Such landscapes are also currently used by hospices in treatment of Alzheimer and AIDS patients. Roger Ulrich showed through a study of hospital patients that those whose rooms overlooked vegetation recovered faster and required less pain medication than did patients without a view of nature