Gardening - The Consumer

Gardening - The Consumer - UK

Mintel International Group Ltd.

- Pub ID: GN1060262

Countries covered: United Kingdom

Public libraries have never been short on gardening books, and there has certainly been no recent shortage of books on the history of the British garden and its gardeners.

A Little History of Gardening, by Jenny Uglow (Chatto & Windus), is a new 2004 title that reminds us of some basic developments in this history, from the initiation of 'gardening for pleasure' in the 12th Century through to the vistas of Capability Brown and the Victorian explorers and gatherers of exotic plants from the colonies. For the wealthy, fashion has always played a role in designing and stocking the garden, and fashion is a theme of this annual review of gardening consumers in the UK.

For gardening as a hobby to be fashionable, and for the design of even modest suburban gardens to be influenced by fashion, is by no means far-fetched when one considers that everything from children's clothing, cars and home décor through to mobile phones, holiday destinations and kitchen gadgets are now prone to this influence. Fashion depends, however, on several other driving forces behind the garden market that this review must not ignore.

Media coverage of gardening - and other home design matters - exploded in the 1990s and continues to exert a crucial influence on garden style, and the outdoor room phenomenon, extending the kitchen and/or living room into the garden area, is by no means fading away. (Patio heaters to extend the leisure use of the garden are among the literally 'hot' items in garden centres currently.) Environmental issues must also not be forgotten, with topics such as organic gardening being closely linked to media coverage and, perhaps, to fashions in the garden.

Using the consumer research, this report will explore ways in which the commerce of gardening can exploit the fashion impulse in the modern view of gardens. The people who need to be encouraged to spend more on their gardens are those who will almost take the view that the garden is a fashion accessory alongside the equally trendy car and designer home. Essentially, they are busy young professionals. It is a familiar irony of the garden market that the keener the gardener is on traditional gardening methods, the lower the amount spent on the garden.

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