Consumers are spending more of their cash on plants these days. But the upswing in green investments does not end with plants – landscaping services have experienced a recent surge of popularity as well.
According to a Harris Interactive poll conducted for the National Gardening Association, Burlington, Va., retail sales for the lawn and garden industry have climbed significantly in the last five years. In 1997, industry sales at retailers totaled $26.6 billion. Last year that figure registered at $39.6 billion.
Industry professionals attribute much of the increased interest in the lawn care to the thriving mortgage and housing markets and the post-Sept. 11 cocooning phenomenon. However, the financial figures also infer an increasing interest in property appearance and maintenance, explained Robert Dolibois, executive vice president, American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA).
Another poll, recently conducted by ANLA, points to another green industry trend: Baby Boomers with healthy wallets are hiring others to maintain their landscapes – with services ranging from lawn maintenance and weed removal to pest control and tree care.
According to ANLA, the money consumers forked over for professional landscape installation services more than tripled between 1997 and 2002 – from $3.6 billion to $11.2 billion in just five years. Within that same period, the percentage of households using lawn and landscape maintenance services climbed from 14 percent to 18 percent.