A love of gardening is one thing that many Brits have in common. In fact, the Horticultural Trades Association reported that over two-thirds of British adults visit a garden centre every year. In 2016, the UK Houzz Landscaping Trends Survey also revealed that 59% of homeowners prioritised outdoor living as the biggest influence in their overall outdoor project design.
Gardening as a hobby appears to be becoming more popular too. We have teamed up with Suttons, advocates of growing your own produce, to take a closer look:
A rising interest
It appears as though the UK as a nation is enjoying spending more time in the garden. Research revealed that the market value of home and garden products has grown by 4,548.1 euros since 2014. Similarly, Wickes has seen a 30% increase in year-on-year sales of garden lighting, which suggests that more people are spending time in the garden even when the sun goes down and perhaps in the colder months too.
One reason for the rise in keen gardeners has been suggested to be the increase in disposable income in households. In 2016, research concluded that 27 million people in Britain were partaking in gardening. More young people are considering a career in the industry too — a sharp increase has been noticed in the amount of 16 to 18 year olds who are looking to complete horticulture courses at college.
There have been concerns in the past surrounding peoples interest in gardening. It was reported that many people were paving over their front gardens with gravel for ease of maintenance or parking purposes. With the rise of urban living, it has also been reported that many people will be living without any access to a garden in the near future. However, trends have adapted and there has been a rise in the purchase of shrubbery as people try to make the most of their limited space.
It has been found that gardening is being enjoyed more indoors now too — through gardening programmes. One in four Brits claimed that they used gardening TV shows as inspiration for their own gardens. A garden transformation show called Love Your Garden, hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, saw its viewing figures hit 4 million this summer. Similarly, 3.14 million tuned in to watch the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May, which is coverage of a 5-day long garden show of innovative gardeners and their designs.
Search volumes
It appears as though Google is being consulted on gardening advice more too. When looking at the search volume of ‘grow your own’, peaks were noticed around May. This is possibly down to the beginning of the bank holidays and the rise in temperatures. On average, 50,000 more searches were made around the term in 2017 than in 2014.
Less people were searching for this term around the month of December. However, an increase in searches was still picked up (30,000 between 2014 and 2017). This could be down to the rise in ‘DIY’ kits that have seeds, tools and soil in that they can be given as a gift and used to grow your own vegetables in the garden.
More people are looking for the location of their closest garden centre too. In April 2015, there were around 230,000 searches made around the term ‘garden centres near me’ and in 2017, this figure had risen to around 700,000.
Other terms that people have been searching for are ‘gardening ideas’, which saw its search volume increase by around 130,000 between 2015 and 2017, and the search volume of ‘gardening programmes’, which increased by around 350,000 in the same period.
As our love for the hobby increases, it is expected that we’ll find new ways to accommodate for the loss of green spaces. If you’re not already part of the hype, get in the garden or visit your local garden centre to see what it’s all about!This is a sponsored post.
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