Fall Gardening Study Released

A new report on consumers’ insights into gardening attitudes and expectations for the fall gardening season has been released by the Garden Writers Association Foundation. According to the 2006 Fall Gardening Trends Research Report, in the coming months fall flowers will be the most purchased item by consumers (25 percent) followed by indoor plants (24 percent) and perennial plants (21 percent).

The survey was done in August and reports on consumer expectations and attitudes for activities and purchases throughout the next few months.

According to the study, only 21 percent of households plan to send fall garden waste to city recycling programs, while 28 percent said they would grind their garden waste on-site with a mower or grinder.

Seventeen percent of the respondents said they planned on backyard composting of their fall garden waste. Eleven percent plan to send their garden waste to the local landfill.

When asked what prevents them from doing more indoor gardening, 30 percent said a lack of time was the major reason. Twenty-seven percent said limited space was an obstacle to indoor gardening, lack of knowledge is reported by 11 percent of households and lack of light is the main reason for 9 percent of the respondents.

The report is available for purchase from the National Garden Writers Association. For more information, go to www.gardenwriters.org .