GARDENING
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COVID-19 HAS TRANSFORMED THE GARDENING INDUSTRY – SO WHAT ARE THE NEW TRENDS? By Craig Sams, Co-founder of Carbon Gold this, so I’m confident these new growers aren’t just a flash in the pan - they’re here to stay. GROWERS ARE SPENDING MORE Not only does the gardening industry have more customers, but growers as a whole are spending more as they stock up their horticultural armoury. The HTA Garden Retail Monitor found that sales of gardening products were up 34%, 17% and 19% in June, July and August respectively in UK garden centres, compared to the same time last year. On average, individual customers were spending 35% more on gardening products.
For all the negative consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic - and there have been many - there have been some positives. Namely, the huge boom in home gardening and grow-your-own. As the world entered lockdown, many millions of us were furloughed or forced to isolate at home, leaving growers with plenty more time to spend in their gardens and allotments. Little did we know though that while coronavirus would endanger many industries, the gardening sector would explode due to budding horticulturalists seeking a connection to nature and more food security. In fact, the industry has been positively transformed in a matter of months - and many trends appear to be here to stay. So, what does the post-Covid gardening industry look like today?
IT’S BIGGER, AND YOUNGER I’ve been heartened by the millions of new British growers who have sprung up this year - almost three million, according to research from The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA). Nearly half of these new gardeners are aged under 45. As you might expect, many of these new growers said that the lockdown gave them more time and energy to immerse themselves in a new passion for growing.
Sales also surged in bedding plants (29%), seeds (59%) and gardening equipment (51%), while garden leisure categories were higher than in August 2019. According to Garden Trade News UK, outdoor plants were the country’s most popular purchase, followed closely by compost. GROWING TO EAT When Coronavirus reached our shores, panic buying swept across the UK.
The National Allotment Society also reported a rise in the number of people joining their local council’s waiting lists for plots during the lockdown, proving that this is an urban as a well as a rural trend.
Walk into nearly any supermarket and you’d see swathes of shelves that were either severely depleted, or stripped bare. Meanwhile, food delivery slots had weekslong waiting times.
Whether garden or allotment, such wonderful patches of nature have become crucial sources of green space in urban areas, and key to keeping good mental health in these trying times.
For fruit and veg lovers, the lack of fresh produce was particularly grim. So individuals and those sharing community gardens decided that growing and harvesting their own fresh food would be a no-brainer. In fact, seed producers reported a massive rise in sales during lockdown. And in March,
It’s said that it takes 66 days to form a new habit. Lockdown lasted much longer than
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