Heather Kirk-Ballard

What do you do with time on your hands? Survey says: gardening. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Louisiana and the rest of the nation into a quarantine scenario in the spring of 2020, many people found themselves with extra time on their hands.

In the 2018 National Garden Survey conducted by Garden Research, 12 million Americans said, “I’m too busy to have much time for gardening.” With gyms, entertainment venues and restaurants closed and people no longer having to commute to work, a surplus of time remained. In addition, supply chains were uncertain, food availability was a concern, and people did not want to spend one more minute indoors, so they turned to gardening in record numbers.

There was anecdotal evidence all across the state and the rest of the nation that indeed people were gardening. Nevertheless, was this real?

I personally witnessed it. Neighbors who in the past paid a company to maintain the lawn were now out in their lawns tackling garden projects or putting in a vegetable garden for the first time. People just wanted to get out of the house and use this newfound time to be productive, physically active and get some fresh air.

The green industry found itself in a unique situation. While other businesses were experiencing hardships because of shutdowns, the green industry was in high demand with many reporting significant gains in profits and sales. Garden stores reported high demand for vegetable, fruit and nut crops, as well as seeds and all gardening supplies. The LSU AgCenter experienced an increase in demand for information on home gardening.

As the consumer horticulture extension specialist for the state, I wanted to understand how the forced quarantines affected the amount of gardening consumers did. A consumer gardening survey was put together asking participants about their gardening habits during the pandemic and the buying activities of consumers from their perspectives and the perspective of the retail garden centers.

At this writing, 2,136 people have completed the consumer gardening survey. The survey asked participants how long they have been gardening, how much time they spent in the garden before and during the stay-at-home orders, and how much time they expect to spend in the garden after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey revealed that 59% of participants were already avid gardeners and had been gardening for more than 10 years, 11% for five to 10 years, 17% for one to five years, and 10% said they were first-time gardeners, which was the most exciting find for me.

Next, participants were asked if they had increased the amount of time they spent gardening during the pandemic. Results showed that 82% of the participants said they had increased the amount of time spent gardening. When asked how often they were gardening during the pandemic, 46% said they were gardening five to seven days a week, and 35% said they were gardening three to five days a week.

One of the most important lessons learned from the survey might be the reasons people gave for gardening. The No. 1 answer was “because it makes me happy” at 88%. Other answers included stress relief and relaxation at 88% and to be out in nature and outdoor physical activity at 87%. This confirmed my belief that, indeed, most people garden because of its well-being benefits.

Additionally, the survey indicated that 82% of participants plan to continue to garden at this rate after the pandemic. The results are promising for the green industry, and that is good news for our state. These results align with another recent gardening survey conducted by Axiom Marketing that found 86% of homeowners plan to continue gardening in 2021.

Finally, the survey asked participants how they found the information they needed on gardening during the pandemic, and 51% of Louisianians said they found their information from the LSU AgCenter website, social media pages, news articles and local extension agents.

The consumer gardening survey is still open and can be accessed at http://bit.ly/lsuaggardensurvey.

Heather Kirk-Ballard is the consumer horticulture extension specialist for the state and an assistant professor in the School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences.

(This article appears in the winter 2021 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.)

Heather Kirk-Ballard, consumer horticulture extension specialist, writes a weekly newspaper column and appears in weekly YouTube videos with gardening guidance called “Get It Growing.” Photo by Olivia McClure

A total of 82% of gardeners said they increased the amount of time spent gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Survey results indicated 82% of gardeners said they would continue to garden when things went back to normal after the pandemic.