Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

The Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) is pleased to announce the release of the 2007 Summer Gardening Trends Research Report with some very interesting insights on consumer gardening attitudes and expectations for the current gardening season.

In early spring, the GWAF asked consumers where they planned to buy most of their spring plants. In a surprising response, more households indicated they planned to shop at garden centers and local stores (47%) as compared to DIY and mass merchants (44%). This change in planned shopping patterns represented a significant shift from prior years.

In a June survey, The GWAF asked consumers where they actually purchased most of their spring plants. Consumers confirmed that garden centers or local gardening stores got most (43%) of their business while mass merchants and DIY stores came in second (39%).

Other findings of the summer gardening trends survey include:

• The most popular method of insect control that American households plan on using this summer is a combination of organic and chemical products (28%). About one-fourth of households plan on using only organic or natural products (24%).

• One in four consumers (23%) want more information about annual vs. perennial flowers, 22% want information on vegetable gardening, 20% on pest control, 19% on weed control, and 19% on organic gardening.

• When comparing 2006 to 2007, more Americans have no plan to save water this year (31% in 2006 vs. 39% in 2007)

• Almost half (47%) do some form of container gardening.

• This summer, about half of consumers will use their garden for relaxation or as a spiritual retreat (48%). More than a quarter of consumers are planning to use their garden or yard for food production or as a children’s area (28% and 26%, respectively).

For more details, get your copy of the 2007 Summer Gardening Trends Research Report today. The summer gardening survey was conducted in June and covers consumer expectations and attitudes for activities and purchases planned for the next few months. The survey was conducted by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, a national consumer polling organization, and statistically represents the attitudes of 110 million households with an accuracy of 95% (+/- 3.1 percentage points).

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