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GARDENING AMERICA'S #1 OUTDOOR LEISURE ACTIVITY
Gardening is America's most popular outdoor leisure activity, practiced by more than 80 million adults. With the baby boom generation approaching retirement and more and more people "cocooning" (staying home), gardening promises to grow even more in popularity in the years ahead.
Surveys have revealed many of the reasons that people garden: We like being active and outdoors...we garden to relax...we value the beauty and bounty of what we grow. Gardening also invites our creative expression; it's even been referred to as "the slowest of the performing arts."
While gardening doesn't have to be expensive, Americans spend freely to enjoy this hobby. According to a Garden Design magazine research study, gardening accounts for annual sales of $50 billion. By comparison, golf is a $15 billion a year pastime. Lawn care alone accounts for $6 billion.
I sat in on a trends-in-gardening talk recently by Deb Brown, UofM extension horticulturist. Here are some of the reasons Brown sites for the growing interest in gardening.
First of all, she says, gardening is therapeutic for many maladies -- emotional, physical and spiritual. She points out that a growing number of public gardens are creating therapeutic and healing gardens. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is one example.
Gardening can be shared by people of all ages and skill levels, including little children. I recall visiting my granddaughter at her home last summer and watching her delight in demonstrating how she could hide under her and her parent's pole bean crop that was climbing on a teepee trellis.
Another appeal of gardening is that you can do it right where you live -- you don't have to pay dues to a club or drive somewhere to participate.
You can attempt as much or as little gardening as you choose. Even physically impaired people can grab onto gardening in some form.
Brown says gardening interest will grow in the decade ahead as baby boomers begin trading off 50-hour work weeks for new or latent hobbies. Since the 9-11 attacks, many Americans haves shown a desire to stay closer to home and pursue simpler, safer and less-expensive leisure-time pursuits. Gardening can also be an economical hobby as energy costs rise.
Brown says gardeners are connecting to the internet in increasing numbers in search of horticultural ideas and answers. "The internet can be both a good thing for gardeners and a landmine," Brown cautions. "There's no shortage of answers to gardening questions on the internet but the problem is, the answers aren't always the right answers. A great deal of gardening information is anecdotal -- it's based on somebody's experience. Gardeners searching the internet need to be wary of what information they trust and believe."
The University of Minnesota Extension Service website www.extension.umn.edu is reliable, Brown says, and contains an unbelievable amount of research-based horticultural information. For me, the existence of this website has substantially reduced the volume of paper files I need to keep on-hand to answer gardening questions.
Another trend cited by Brown is a desire by gardeners to use lesser amounts of pesticides or no pesticides at all. In discussing this trend, she explained that a pesticide is something that kills something else, such as insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. Fertilizers, therefore, are not pesticides.
Another interesting trend Brown discussed is the positive influence of Minnesota's Southeast Asian population on the overall quality of Minnesota's fresh produce. "You can see the improvement the minute you step into the aisles of fresh produce at either the Minneapolis or St. Paul farmers markets," Brown explains.
Several other popular gardening trends Brown cited are growing perennials, establishing native prairies, and building water gardens. Regarding water gardens, Brown says most people don't realize until they're well into the project how much work is involved in water gardening.
Brown illustrated many of the trends she discussed with slides she's taken over the years. By the time the slides were completed and the lights came back on, I was ready to race home and start diggingÖnow if only our recent winter-like weather would loosen its grip and give spring a chance.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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