Home gardening popularity on the rise

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 256, 27 September 1988, Page 4

Home gardening popularity on the rise

There has long been a saying in the home gardening industry that the harder the times, the greater the saies.

This year, saies of seeds and gardening supplies are bearing out

the old adage. The country's largest packet seed company, Yates New Zealand Ltd, reports a staggering increase in home g arden seed saies to retailers of nearly 50 per cent this season. Retailers report they are experiencing an onslaught of enthusiastic new gardeners, keen to eat fresh vegetables and to save the average household monthly fruit and vegetable bill of $100. This return to home gardening is not exclusive to New Zealand, although the reasons in New Zealand appear to stem from cost saving efforts rather than motivated by a love o f gardening. A cover story i n "Time" in June this year reported that garden centres across the United States say their business has doubled. The magazine claims the new business is a result of a back-to-ba-sics attitude prevalent among the generation born just after the Second World War. The National Gardening Association in the United States says that the stereotypic gardener in the 1970s was over 50 with time and money to spare. Now, 78 per cent of American households gardcn and recent surveys reveal that the new gardeners are between 30 and 49 years, equally men and women. This generation of new gardeners accounts for half the $US17.5 billion spent on horticultural sup-

plies in the United States in 1987. Although New Zealanders generally consider themselves keen outdoors folk, it appears their outdoor pursuits have not involved the g arden as much as it has for American householders. The Department of Statistics in New Zealand surveys about 3500 households annually to estimate household spending on

various activities, including gardening. The numbers of households which bought seeds or bulbs in 1982-2 was 308 (8 per cent). In 1986, only 197 households purchased seeds or bulbs (5.6 per cent). New Zealand retailers believe these statistics will be considerably higher for the 1988 year as more people turn to the garden as a way to reduce house-

hold costs. The most economical way to grow vegetables is from seed rather than seedlings - hence the incrcase in seed saies. How does the cost of home gardening compare with vegetable prices? The cost of planting seed and maintaining a vegetable garden of 45 square mctres (9 metres by 5 mctres) throughTurn page 5

Gardening popular

out the year is about $100, according to Yates' home gardening advisory offcr, Mr Alf Hooper. A garden of this size produces the equivalent quantity of vegetables throughout the year that would cost about $680 at a grecn groccrs. Home economists have claimcd that cvery hour spent in ihe gar-

den savcs $10 on grcen groccrs' bills. New varieties of vegetables, particularly hybrids, make a gardener's life easier than in ihe past. Higher yields, better quality and greater resistance to pests and disease mean the hours invested in the garden have an ever increasing return.