Food gardening sales total $3 billion for the second year in a row

National Gardening Association’s 2011 National Gardening Survey reports consumers spent nearly $3 billion for the second year in a row on food gardening in 2010. At the same time, sales for other types of lawn and garden activities saw a small decline. In 2010, sales for vegetable gardening, fruit trees, berries and herb gardening totaled $2.990 billion and $2.989 billion in 2009.
“That's the highest level of spending on food gardening seen in more than a decade and a 20% increase over the $2.409 billion consumers spent in 2008 before the economic downturn” said Bruce Butterfield, NGA research director.
Total sales for all types of do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities declined by 5% in 2010 to $28.409 billion from $30.121 billion in 2009. The number of households that hired lawn care and landscape services in 2010 declined by 8% from 24 million households to 22 million households. That’s the lowest level seen in households hiring someone to do it for them in the past 5 years.
Nearly four times as many households, 80 million, participated in do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities as hired someone to care for their lawns and gardens for them. The nationwide average amount spent on all lawn and garden activities in 2010 was $363 compared to $355 in 2009, a difference of only $8 per household.