Gardening has never been more popular, and it’s still growing
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Grow a tomato, join the millions of Americans
who love to garden. (Photo: Kathy Morrison) |
We are a nation of gardeners. More Americans are gardening recreationally now than at any time in our history. People are embracing Mother Nature, and are happier for it.
On this Independence Day, let's reflect on why American gardening is having a moment.
Gardening is increasingly something we have in common. More than half of all Americans – 55% – say gardening is their hobby. Another 20% say they’re “seriously planning” on gardening in the near future – as soon as they have some outdoor space.
According to the National Gardening Association, 18.3 million Americans took up gardening in 2021 – and most of them have stuck with it.
And it’s not just the Boomer generation. Millennials are the fastest-growing segment of newbie gardeners, now representing 29% of all gardeners. Their gardening-related purchases jumped an estimated 67% since 2019, say garden retailers.
Recent studies and surveys of America’s gardening habits reveal other trends: We are spending on gardening like never before. Annual sales of lawn and gardening equipment and supplies now top $48 billion. Garden retail centers report their business doubled during the COVID pandemic and has remained strong.
Interest in growing food remains strong, too; more than 35% of American households grow at least some fruit and vegetables. The average vegetable garden yields $600 in produce. Another plus: Kids who help in the vegetable garden are much more likely to eat their veggies.
And people who gardened before the pandemic are gardening more than ever; on average, up 42%.
Surveys also found that two out of three gardeners expanded into a new area of gardening during and post-pandemic.
An interesting twist discovered by researchers: People are gardening as much for mental health as physical exercise or saving food money. Gardening made them feel better.
So, get out and dig! It’s the American thing to do.
Happy Independence Day!
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Food in My Back Yard Series
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of May 18
Get outside early in the morning while temperatures are still cool – and get to work!
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. Transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Are birds picking your fruit off trees before it’s ripe? Try hanging strips of aluminum foil on tree branches. The shiny, dangling strips help deter birds from making themselves at home.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.