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The production components of an evergreen shrub (Ilex crenata ‘Bennett’s Compacta’) grown in a no. 3 container in an east coast U.S. nursery were analyzed for their costs and contributions to carbon footprint, as well as the product impact in the landscape throughout its life cycle. A life cycle inventory was conducted of input materials, equipment use, and all cultural practices and other processes used in a model production system for this evergreen shrub. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of the model numerated the associated greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), carbon footprint, and variable cost of each component. The LCA also included the transportation and transplanting of the final product in the landscape as well as its removal after a 40-year useful life.GHGfrom input products andprocesses during the production (cutting-to-gate) of the evergreen shrub were estimated to be 2.918 kg CO2e. When considering carbon sequestration during production weighted over a 100-year assessment period, the carbon footprint for this model system at the nursery gate was 2.144 kg CO2e. Operations, combining the impact ofmaterial andequipmentuse, that contributedmost ofGHG during production included fertilization (0.707 kg CO2e), the liner and transplanting (0.461 kg CO2e), the container (0.468 kg CO2e), gravel and ground cloth installation (0.222 kg CO2e), substrate materials and preparation (0.227 kg CO2e), and weed control (0.122 kg CO2e). The major contributors to global warming potential (GWP) were also major contributors to the cutting-to-gate variable costs ($3.224) except for processes that required significant labor investments. Transporting the shrub to the landscaper, transporting it to the landscape site, and transplanting it would result inGHGof 0.376, 0.458, and 0 kgCO2e, respectively. Variable costs for postharvest activities were $6.409 and were dominated by labor costs (90%). Producers of landscape plants are increasingly incorporating sustainable production practices to influence social acceptance of those plants in terms of their environmental, economic, and health and well-being features. Within a maturing industry, the economic portion of the triple bottom line is important (Hall, 2010) and the nursery industry has traditionally sought ways to minimize environmental impact of production. Social sustainability is reflected in the purchasing decisions made by end consumers. Understanding the environmental impacts of production system protocols could allow managers to increase efficiency and reduce potentially negative impacts ofmore sustainable systems. Understanding the ecosystem services of landscape plants could provide information to more effectively market these products to environmentally conscious consumers (Ingram and Hall, 2015b; Yue et al., 2011). LCA has been used to characterize agricultural and bioenergy production systems (Davis et al., 2009; Debolt et al., 2009; Farrell et al., 2006; Hayashi et al., 2006; Koerber et al., 2009; Liebig et al., 2008; Payraudeau and van der Werf, 2005) including landscape plant production (Beccaro et al., 2014; Ingram 2012). LCA has been used to describe environmental impacts of the nursery industry in the Piemonte region (Beccaro et al., 2014) and the Pistoia plant production district (Lazzerini et al., 2016; Nicese and Lazzerini, 2013) of Italy on an area basis. The carbon footprint of a product or activity is a measure of the associated GHG and expressed as the GWP of those gases. The GWP for the production and distribution of trees in nos. 5 and 9 containers in the United States was reported by Kendall and McPherson (2012) as 4.6 and 15.3 kg CO2e, respectively. Ingram and Hall (2015a) conducted a LCA of a potin-pot production system of a red maple in a no. 25 container and reported GHG of 15.317 kg CO2e and a cutting-to-gate GWP of 10.742 kg CO2e. Some of these published studies have focused on the details of operational protocols and their impact on GWP, or the products’ carbon footprint. The propagation-to-landscape GWP for fieldgrown, 5-cm-caliper Acer rubrum L. (red maple), Picea pungens Engelm (colorado blue spruce), and Cercis canadensis L. (redbud) and 0.9-m Judd viburnum (Viburnum ·juddi Rehder) and a 0.6-m ‘Densiformis’ yew (Taxus ·media Rehder) shrubs were reported as 20.9 (adjusted for more inclusive fuel and weighted sequestration during production), 13.6, 13.7, 3.16, and 3.22 kg CO2e, respectively (Hall and Ingram, 2015; Ingram, 2012, 2013; Ingram and Hall, 2013, 2014a, 2014b, 2015a). These studies have also estimated carbon sequestration from the atmosphere during the life of the plant, weighted over a 100-year assessment period. Protocols for shrub production in containers are significantly different from field production systems and production of trees in larger containers. The objective of this study was to determine the GHG and variable costs of production system components for an evergreen shrub in a no. 3 container on the east coast of the United States.

hortscience

Carbon Footprint and Variable Costs of Production Components for a Container-grown Evergreen Shrub Using Life Cycle Assessment: An East Coast U.S. Model