SEX, FOREIGN AID and LAWN CARE

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

Click on each photo to enlarge.

Have you read The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn by Ted Steinberg?  

It's an easy and funny read...even if you are not in a garden-related business.

Steinberg looks at the lighter and darker side of the all-American landscape.  

Steinberg wants you to know:

• The average homeowner spends 150 hours a year maintaining their lawn … but only 35 hours per year on sex!

•  Ten times more herbicides per acre are dumped on lawns than on the fields of agribusiness. 

• It costs more per acre to maintain a lawn than it does to grow corn, rice or sugarcane. Note:  Steinberg states more than 40 billion dollars are spent on lawns in North America each year - more than the entire continent gave in foreign aid in 2005.  The 2013 National Garden Survey states that U.S. households spent $29.5 billion on their lawns and gardens in 2012. 

 

• An estimated 7 million birds are killed yearly by lawn-care pesticides.  Honey Bee Colony collapse disorder  is being linked to pesticides.

•   Phosphorus run-off from lawn fertilizer causes algae blooms that suck oxygen out of lakes, asphyxiating fish.

•  30% of the water used on the East Coast of U.S. goes towards watering of lawns. A single golf course in Tampa, Florida uses 178,800 gallons of water every day, enough to meet the daily water needs of over 2,200 people. 

•  Approximately 7,500 Americans are injured every year using lawn mowers, about the same number as  firearms. About 10,000 of those accidents involve children. More than 30% these injuries resulted in an amputation of some sort.  That’s more than 22,000 limbs and digits that go missing every year in pursuit of the perfect green!

My Front Yard.  Copyright 2012 Marcia Norwood

We took up part of the grass lawn,

and replaced it with rock gardens 

filled with easy to care for 

grasses, annuals and perennials. 

                             Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Boxwood, Ornamental Grass, Iris, Daylily, Columbine, Coneflowers.                                           Copyright 2012 Marcia Norwood

                           Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Boxwood, Ornamental Grass, Iris, Daylily, Columbine, Coneflowers.                                           Copyright 2012 Marcia Norwood

How much do you spend each year 

on your lawn and garden?

The 2013 National Gardening Survey shows a small increase the second year in a row in lawn and garden participation and sales, while national chains continue to dominate market share.   

Copyright 2011 Marcia Norwood

"At  National Gardening Association, 

we're delighted to see more people 

doing lawn and garden activities for themselves 

and especially pleased to see 

an increase in lawn and garden sales 

for the second year in a row 

after being down the previous two years."

Mike Metallo, NGA President

CLICK on the link or 

COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

http://www.garden.org/

Copyright 2011 Marcia Norwood

Nationwide, household participation in do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities showed an increase of 2 million more households (2%) in 2012, compared with the year before, translating into an extra $354 million (1%) in retail sales of lawn and garden products across the nation.  

U.S. households - 
in total - 
spent $29 billion 
on their lawns and gardens 
last year.  

Average spending 
on lawn and garden 
activities
per household 
remained flat 
at around 
$347 per year.   

Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

Check out the National Gardening Association website:

•  Theme Gardening

•  Kids Gardening
• Questions
• Garden Research
• National Garden Surveys
• Garden Shop  (All purchases support nonprofit grant programs in schools and communities nationwide)

• Teacher Resources  (Inquiry-Based Hands On Learning) 

 CLICK on the link or 

COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

http://www.gardeningwithkids.org/index.html

The New 2013 National Gardening Survey states:

Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

A new survey question added in 2012, asked households how much they spent at each type of retailer selling lawn and garden products confirmed that big-box stores and mass retailers account for the largest share of lawn and garden retail sales.

The 2013 National Gardening Survey found that U.S. households spent more at Home Improvement Centers (27% of the total gardening retail market) and at Mass Merchants (20%) than they did at local Garden Centers and Nurseries (17%) or local Hardware Stores (15%).

Many industry insiders have speculated about this shift in market "channel" share for years, and the 2013 National Gardening Survey has confirmed their suspicions.  

With a collective 47% share, large national chains now drive the   L & G market.  This market share data has not been collected before in this or any similar survey, and will give industry insiders something to think about.

However, the national chains have their own challenges.  The 18-34 year old group of householders cite their local Hardware Store as their preferred lawn and garden supplier (21% of sales), ahead of Home Centers (13% of sales) and Mass Merchants (15% of sales).



No matter what the type of size of your L & G business, the  2013 National Gardening Survey provides invaluable market information and insights that will help grow your market share and keep your business on the road to success. 

   

CLICK on the link or 

COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

http://www.gardenresearch.com/

Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

Did you spend more than $347 this year  

(the average American household expenditure) 

on your lawn and garden?

I sure did, and it's only October. 

 

Have you priced accessories for Fairy Gardens???  Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

Going Green

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and bring a friend!

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking