9 gardening facts you should know for 2022

2022 is almost here so it’s time to share some important facts with you. How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected customers in the garden industry? What do millennials think about their future expenses on plants? And how can you use that information to grow your garden centre, online & offline?

Recently, market researcher Axiom published a survey highlighting the answers to these questions & many more. We made a summary of the 9 most important gardening facts you should know before 2022. 

1. 54,9% of the millennials will spend more time on gardening

According to the survey conducted by Axiom, 54,9% of millennials has spent more time on gardening in 2021 compared to 2020. For the general population, the figure is “only” 44.4% so this fact shows you that millennials definitely discovered gardening during the lockdowns. 

These new gardeners need more information as they don’t have all the knowledge their (grand)parents have so you must educate them. You can do that in-store with proper POS or online. Just make sure they won’t get disappointed with their purchases!
 

2. 75,4% will continue with their new hobby

The same survey shows that 75,4% of the millennials will keep gardening in 2022 & beyond, so this change in behaviour is likely to last for a few years. 

This is in line with the ongoing trend we noticed before Covid-19 broke out: millennials want to know where their food is coming from, favour organic, bio-friendly products and they post a lot about plants on social media. 

3. 65,7% of the consumers are into grow-your-own

65,7% of the respondents are into grow-your-own gardening. They want to grow their own veggies & herbs. As stated in the previous paragraph: the number of people interested in learning where food comes from is growing. More and more restaurants are promoting “locally grown” ingredients and consumers are rediscovering the benefits of growing their own food!
 

4. Covid-19 had a positive impact on gardening

We’re pretty sure you already noticed it was extremely busy at most garden centres since March 2020. That’s partly because most people were bored, stuck at home during the Spring. 

But there’s more: during covid, 59,5% of the respondents had a growing interest in gardening & outdoor living activities. For millennials, that number is even higher: 74,3%. 
 

5. 48,6% spent more money on gardening

Interest in gardening is nice, but eventually, it’s about the money spent on gardening. And that number is on the rise too: 48,6% spent more money on gardening, while only 8% spent less money on plants & related items. 

The rise in interest clearly results in a rise in money spent!
 

6. Reasons to garden

So there’s an uptick in the interest in gardening, but why do people want to spend time in their garden? The results are split among:

• Reducing stress levels (20%)

• Creating a beautiful space (15%)

• Family time (19%)

• Time home because of Covid-19 (19%)

• Growing your own food (15%)

There’s not a single reason why Joe and Jane Public spend time in their garden, so make sure to serve all these groups. 

7. 33,5% prefers learning from Facebook

Despite the rise of TikTok, 33,5% of gardeners use Facebook to learn about new plants, garden suppliers and outdoor living products. YouTube is second with 24,8%. Instagram is third with 13,5 and TikTok is only used by 0.7% of the gardeners. 
 

8. 28,3% will spend more money on gardening in 2022

The big hairy question for many independent garden centres: will the gardening boom last in 2022? According to the Axium survey, it will. 28,3% of the respondents think they will spend even more money on gardening while 67,8% thinks their expenses will remain at the current (high) level. Only 3,8% thinks they will spend less money.

9. Money spent on environmentally friendly projects

So more money will be spent on gardening by consumers in 2022, but what are they spending this money on? A summary:

• 54,4% wants to create a vegetable garden

• 26,5% wants to create plantings for pollinators and wildlife

• 23,6% wants to grow more native plants

As you can see, consumers are more and more open to spending money on sustainable projects.

Axiom's report shows that growing interest in gardening is not going to diminish. Of course, that depends on many factors: the weather, the uncertainty of Covid-19, new lockdowns and so on. But the omens for 2022 & the years beyond are favourable, as there is a whole new group of customers who have gained renewed interest in the garden!