The recent Direct Gardening Association conference included informative presentations on industry trends by National Gardening Association’s Bruce Butterfield and Garden Writer Association’s Anne Marie Van Nest. Here are just a few of the highlights from recent surveys they conducted:
• The rise in vegetable gardening is being fueled by both an increase in the number of people gardening and an increase in the amount of edibles gardeners are growing. Van Nest reports that 48% of gardeners plan to grow more edibles in 2011.
• People are spending more time but less money on lawn and garden activities, according to Butterfield.
• To save time and/or money, people are more mindful of waterwise gardening practices, are growing plants from seed, and are mulching more extensively.
• A shift in the population towards the South is adding to the interest in waterwise gardening, according to Butterfield.
• Container gardening is enjoying a surge in popularity – up 40% from 2009 to 2010, according to Van Nest.
• Prospects for future growth are bright. In Van Nest’s survey, 24% of respondents that don’t currently garden said they were considering starting in 2011.
For more information on garden industry research reports, contact Bruce Butterfield at bruceb@garden.org or Ann Marie Van Nest at avannest@austin.rr.com.
