Lawn and garden sales up 3% in 2007

Sales of lawn and garden products totaled $35.102 billion last year, according to the 2007 National Gardening Survey. Sales increased 3 percent, or $1.025 billion more than the $34.077 billion consumers spent in 2006.

“That’s good news because it’s the first year we have seen overall retail lawn and garden sales increase since 2002,” said Mike Metallo, National Gardening Association president.

Do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities that saw the biggest increase in spending in 2007 included lawn care, vegetable gardening, ornamental gardening and herb gardening.

Nationwide, 71 percent of U.S. households or an estimated 82 million households participated in one or more types of lawn and garden activities in 2007 -- 3 million fewer households than the five-year average of 85 million participating households recorded from 2002 to 2006.

The most popular lawn and garden activities in 2007 were lawn care (48 percent of households), growing indoor houseplants (31 percent), flower gardening (30 percent) and landscaping (27 percent).

Consumers spent an average of $428 per household on do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities in 2007, or 7 percent more than the $401 average spent in 2006.

Households that spent the most on their lawns and gardens in 2007 included people 55 years of age and older, college graduates, married households, households with annual incomes of $75,000 and over, households in the South, two-person households and households with no children at home.

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For more: National Gardening Association, (802) 863-5251; www.garden.org.

July 2008