GWA Survey Measures Interest in Gardening Issues
From the GWA Foundation   Special Announcement  August 2008
Survey Measures Interest in Gardening Issues
The American gardening public is estimated at 84 million households representing a wide cross section of the social and economic fabric of our nation. Even as diverse as the gardening public is, the 2008 Summer Gardening Trends Research Report just released by the Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) shows there are some surprising common interest topics in the gardening community.
In a national survey conducted in late June, the GWAF asked consumers who have a lawn or garden to rate their interest level (very high/high/low/very low) in several key topics. The combined totals for positive rankings (high and very high) consumers gave each item include:
·       Water conservation (72%): While almost a third of households have no plans for water conservation, the remaining population has a high (43%) and very high (28%) level of interest in conserving one of our most precious natural resources.
·       Native plants (52%): In what was a relatively unknown topic only a few years ago, a majority of the gardening public expressed positive interest (31% high and 21% very high) in the subject of native plants.
·       Organic gardening (45%): Though less than a majority (30% high, 15% very high), public interest in organic gardening has grown from an estimated single digits a decade ago to almost half of all households, today.
·       Sustainable gardening (38%): Still a relatively new concept that may suffer from a lack of uniform definition and public understanding, sustainable gardening has gained the attention (27% high and 11% very high) of almost 2 out of every 5 households.
·       Web-based gardening information (27%): With no prior measure of interest in web-based gardening information, it is difficult to evaluate consumer response in what appears to be a relatively low level of interest. Even among the tech savvy “under 25″ group, the positive response was 36%. Since the Web is clearly a tremendous information resource, the challenge is in making on-line gardening information interesting and useful to the public.
These are a few insights into the public’s interest in current gardening issues. Other findings from this newly released national survey include:
On average, consumers are planning to spend about $771 on their yards and gardens this year, where expenditures include making improvements and doing maintenance.
Almost half of American households (43%) grow vegetables in their gardens.
This year, about two out of five (39%) consumers say that they participate in container gardening. This is down from 47% last year.
The 2008 Summer Gardening Trends Research Report was conducted June 16-24 and covers consumer expectations and attitudes for activities and purchases planned for July through September. The survey was conducted by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, a national consumer polling organization, and statistically represents the attitudes of over 100 million households with an accuracy of 95% (+/- 3.1 percentage points). It is now available online free to all GWA members.
Contact: Robert LaGasse
T: 703.257.1032
info@gardenwriters.org
Lori Bushway | Articles for the public, Resources