APRIL 27, 2016 – The U.S. is a nation full of gardeners – and they’re spending more money on their lawns and gardens than in recent years. Lawn and garden spending reached a reported $36.1 billion dollars in 2015 according to recently released results of the annual National Gardening Survey, bouncing back from a five-year low in 2014.
“Participation in gardening did not decline much during the economic downturn,” says industry analyst Bruce Butterfield, who adds, “people have been participating in gardening all along but they weren’t spending as much in recent years.” The average amount spent on the back yard or balcony nationwide in 2015 was $401 per household, up from a low of $317 in 2014.
“The $36 billion dollar question is if lawn and garden sales will stay at this level in the future,” says Butterfield, who heads the National Gardening Market Research Company and oversees the survey each year. “These results are encouraging. Not only did DIY gardening have 6 million more customers, they spent more, too,” adds Butterfield.
An estimated 90 million households participated in do-it-yourself lawn and gardening activities last year – in and outdoors. That’s about 75-percent of all U.S. households. According to the survey, the highest spending was among baby boomers, married households, those with annual incomes of over $75,000 and college graduates – but the most important market force was 18-34 year olds. Five million of the six million ‘new’ gardening households were Millennials.
Food gardening and flower gardening were the most popular gardening activities last year. About one out of three households participated in food gardening (36%) or flower gardening (34%). Households spent an estimated $3.6 billion growing vegetables, fruit, berries and herbs and $2.7 billion on flower gardening.
The 250 page National Gardening Survey report can be purchased at GardenResearch.com.
The report includes analysis by Butterfield and an extended additional analysis of the data and commentary on the gardening market by Ian Baldwin, a leading national business advisor to garden and hardware retailers.