Bord Bia report outlines the gardeners of the future

Relative to the total population: gardeners are more likely to be female and an average age of 49 years.

The report provides horticulture and landscape retailers with an insight into their future customer base

Horticulture

24 May 2017

There are approximately 1.3 million regular gardeners in Ireland, with an average age of 49 years and of which 63% are women, according to Bord Bia’s Insight Centre – The Thinking House – latest report.

The “Gardening in Ireland” summary report revealed the most popular types of gardeners have mature families or are in the twilight stage of their life, accounting for 44% of all gardeners.

The report also broke down the gardeners by their activities:

83% Plant flowers and shrubs
74% Carry out lawn maintenance
66% Design & Place hanging baskets / window boxes
60% Sow or plant herbs
57% Carry out hardscaping, paving, and maintenance
52% Sow or plant vegetables / fruit
52% Plant hedging or trees

Planting flower and shrubs is the most regular activity of the Irish gardener. Designing and placing hanging and window boxes came in second with lawn care, and sowing or planting seed tied for third.

The gardener of the future will be eco-aware and see anything that will maintain a “good looking” and “productive” garden with less effort as more appealing, said the report.

The gardener of the future will also be compact, but that is up to the trade world to provide them with the means to garden in compact spaces. A third of all pre-family lifestages have “limited or no” gardening space to grow and 59% say that if they could garden in a small space it would encourage them to garden more, according to the report.

The gardener of the future will be connected and utilise online forums and support to curate ideas and develop solutions for their garden. The online retailing sector is still in its infancy according to the report but as technology usage amongst gardeners grows this market is set to expand.

57% of adults see their garden as another room for entertaining and 80% of adults with kids see their garden as a playground, according to the report.

Bord Bia’s report provides retailers and trade professionals with a key insight into the current gardening industry and the future of the everyday gardener. With the online marketplace for gardeners expected to expand as connected gardeners do, there is a real opportunity for the trade industry to capitalise on the findings.

GLAS 2017 will feature the expanded learning theatre where Grace Bunchy, consumer insight specialist with Bord Bia, will discuss the report and the future of Irish gardeners.

You can learn all about the GLAS Learning Theatre, supported by Bord Bia, here