What the National Garden Bureau Has Learned About Attracting New Gardeners
October 16, 2020 
The National Garden Bureau’s Future of Gardening survey was designed to give the industry direction for how to communicate with existing gardeners as well as new consumers.
Image courtesy of the National Garden Bureau
The “Future of Gardening” survey completed by the National Garden Bureau (NGB) in Fall 2019 provided interesting insights, which now seem even more concrete and realistic than they were at the time. According to The Garden Center Group, garden center sales have been up 30.3% during COVID-19, creating an opportunity to capture interest in gardening for today and many years to come. The NGB’s survey findings give our industry direction for how to communicate with existing gardeners as well as these new consumers:
Consumers want to grow more of their own food and feel that one’s living space will do more to feed the family in the future.
- “Pretty” is still a reason many people want to garden, so offering a selection of ornamental and foliage plants continues to be a key market segment.
- Lawns are still desired; however, they don’t need to be as large as tradition dictates.
- Fear of failure is still one of the top reasons someone doesn’t start to garden or abandons their gardening efforts.
- Other top reasons for not gardening are lack of time, lack of space, and concerns about cost.
How can we as an industry take advantage of or address these findings?
Grow Their Own Food
History shows that when there’s a national crisis, there is an increased interest in edible gardening. This shows the importance of having a good supplier of seed, seedlings, and growing supplies as a partner in your business’ success.
How NGB can help: Save yourself time and stress, follow NGB’s blog series on Victory Garden 2.0. There is a substantial amount of information written about edible gardening, and NGB allows you to use all the blog posts or excerpts for your own use.
Smaller Lawns
Our survey results showed that those under the age of 35 still have a desire for the green lawns of their childhood, just in a smaller format. From a customer service perspective, that might mean more assistance (classes, articles, blogs, etc.) and emphasis on how to reduce lawn size and what products to use as replacements.
How NGB can help: Our New Plants program is a great place to source some of the many new varieties our breeder members introduce each year. These are the “best of the best” and provide many options for replacing traditional lawns.
Fear of Failure
Many years ago, I was involved in running a consumer panel for a group of industry trade show attendees. A hot topic among the panel was that they were afraid to go into an independent garden center because they felt these stores were just for experienced gardeners. They didn’t want to go in and feel stupid (their exact word) for asking basic gardening questions. All garden centers should stress they are there to help new gardeners. Make it a major communication point and find ways to encourage customers to ask questions. What about a big sign out front that asks “Are you a new gardener? Then ask for Jane!” That way, anytime a customer asks for Jane, you know they are a new gardener without making them feel stupid. Make sure your staff communicates with new gardeners in a less technical and complicated manner.
How NGB can help: NGB has created a special icon to use as call-outs anytime we have tips for the beginning gardeners. Again, feel free to use and share these tips to promote your business as one that is there to help newbie gardeners. Or use the tips and icon on signage throughout the garden center.
Garden Misperceptions
While we know that gardening needn’t take too much time, space, or money, these are still very real concerns among the general public. Make your messages about ways to save time, ways to save money, and the many places you can garden (especially with today’s compact varieties).
How NGB can help: We have many blogs about container and vertical gardening that you can easily repurpose for your own use. Use hashtags like #verticalgarden or #containergarden in your social media posts to continue to home in on that message.
Communicate Where Your Customer is Hanging Out
Reach your customer where they are already consuming media. That could be social media, in their email (newsletters), in your local newspaper (PR or advertising), or on blogs (PR or advertising). Stay on top of the trends to connect with as many customers as possible in your target audience.
How NGB can help: Follow NGB on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and any new channels that might pop up. What we create and post can be used by any garden retailer for free.
As the busy spring and summer are winding down, now is the time to reflect on what all went right this year and use that knowledge and experience to retain all the new customers you gained. It’s a good problem to have and NGB is here to help and support you!
All in all, despite the challenges of today’s business environment, those of us in the horticulture industry have a lot of opportunities.
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