Growing Fruit (Royal Horticultural Society's Encyclopaedia of Practical Gardening S.)

Gardens and Gardening

How popular is gardening?

Gardening is popular worldwide. According to the US National Gardening Association, three out of four households in the U.S. (that's about 82,000,000 households) were involved in one or more indoor or outdoor lawn and garden activities in 2004. This level of participation was roughly the same as the five-year average seen between 1999-2003. US gardening consumers spent an average of $449 on their lawns and gardens in 2004 - slightly below the $457 average spent in 2003 and the $466 average spent in 2002.

If consumer expenditure is anything to go by, wealthier, older, better-educated and maritally stable people are the keenest gardeners. The types of households spending more than the US national average on lawns and gardens in 2004 included:

• Households 35 years of age and older
• Households who have attended or graduated from college
• Married households
• Households who are employed full-time
• Households with annual incomes of $50,000 and over
• Two- to four-person households
• Households with no children at home

General Gardening Articles

Introduction to the Victorian Flower Garden
'The elder brethren of our profession, who can look back, for instance, to the introduction of the Dahlia, give us but a poor idea of flower-gardening as it was practised in the first decades of the century.'

Gardening for Stress
In its purest form, gardening is about connecting with the earth and resetting our clocks to the simple, natural rhythms of life.

Safe Gardening
Bad backs and accidents can spoil the pleasure of gardening. Taking an ergonomic approach to gardening can help ensure that it is a safe and enjoyable hobby.

Gertrude Jekyll and Gardening
Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) aimed for 'beautiful effect' and had a lasting effect on gardening.

RHS New Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers