Scotts Professional Horticulture

What gardening trends are tops with consumers so far in 2010? To answer that question, the Garden Writers Association conducted a telephone survey about consumer gardening trends in early March of this year with a group of 597 participants. Survey participants ranged in age from 18 to 65, with the majority of participants falling into the 35-44 age group (31%). Household income levels varied greatly, with no particular level dominating the participant group. Most participants had a high school education, had taken some college courses or were college graduates (69%). Fifty-two percent of respondents were female and 48% were male.

Some of the more interesting survey findings included:

• Over one-half (54%) of respondents who have a garden go to garden centers or local retail stores to purchase their spring garden plants.
• Nearly two-fifths (37%) purchase plants at mass merchandisers or do-it-yourself stores such as Home Depot, K-Mart, Lowes, or Wal-Mart. Three percent consult gardening catalogs, and only 1% say that they currently use the Internet to purchase plants.
• When it comes to selecting a store or source for purchasing plant materials, nearly one-half (46%) of respondents who have a garden look for the best quality; more than one-third (32%) look for trained and educated sales staff. Nineteen percent say that they look for the best price.
• More than two-fifths (43%) of respondents who have a garden plan to use retailers for their spring garden planning, while 37% plan to gain knowledge from their neighbors. Other commonly used resources include books (34%), magazines (31%) and gardening websites (29%).

Vegetable gardening continued to stand out as an increasingly popular activity. One particularly notable item of data was that two-thirds (66%) of the 597 respondents said that they planned on having a vegetable garden during 2010, with the vast majority (76%) doing so because they believe their own vegetables will taste better and offer better nutrition than store-purchased varieties. Over 52% of those planning vegetable gardens will have plots that are medium in size (20’ x 20’) or large (20’ x 40’ or larger).

For more information, or to obtain a copy of the survey, visit www.gardenwriters.org.