Global gardening market driven by the heightened global concern regarding the environment

The global gardening market has been forecast hit a value of US$198,673 million by 2013, up from a valuation of $143,284 million in 2008.

Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits, and herbs, are grown for consumption, for use as dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use.

Gardening ranges in scale from fruit orchards, to long boulevard plantings with one or more different types of shrubs, trees and herbaceous plants, to residential yards including lawns and foundation plantings, to plants in large or small containers grown inside or outside. Gardening may be very specialised, with only one type of plant grown, or involve a large number of different plants in mixed plantings.

Gardening as a hobby or recreational activity is gaining in popularity across the world, a trend that has been reinforced by the austerity drive in the wake of the global economic meltdown.

Initially perceived as a complete market dampener, the global economic downturn brought some cheer to the garden products market as people turned towards gardening in an effort to curtail their monthly expenses owing to reduced spending power.

While there was a downturn in developed markets, the global gardening market received a considerable boost from growth in key emerging markets. With rising home ownership and expanding purchasing power driving spending upwards, forecast industry growth will mostly come from large and expanding economies such as Brazil, Russia and China.

"Go green" is the new mantra in the global gardening market and is reflected by the trend towards organic gardening through the use of organic fertilizers and the use of energy-efficient garden equipment. Consequently, several new garden care products are being developed accordingly to offer gardeners expanded product choices.

Long-term growth within the global gardening market is likely to be driven by an aging population and the heightened global concern regarding the environment.

For more information on the global gardening market, see the latest research: Global Gardening Market

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