2007 NGA Study is available

According to results of the recently completed 2007 National Gardening Survey retail sales of lawn and garden products to consumers totaled $35.102 billion last year. That was an increase of 3 percent or $1.025 billion more than the $34.077 billion consumers spent on lawn and garden products in 2006.

Nationwide, 71 percent of all U.S. households or an estimated 82 million households participated in one or more types of lawn and garden activities in 2007 -- 3 million fewer households than the five-year average of 85 million participating households recorded from 2002 to 2006. The most popular lawn and garden activities in 2007 included lawn care (48% of households), growing indoor houseplants (31% of households), flower gardening (30% of households), and landscaping (27% of households).

Consumers spent an average of $428 per household on do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities in 2007, or 7 percent more than the $401 average spent in 2006. Households that spent the most on their lawns and gardens in 2007 included people 55 years of age and older, college graduates, married households, households with annual incomes of $75,000 and over, households in the South, two-person households and households with no children at home.

The 2007 study was based on a survey with a representative sample of 2,049 U.S. households conducted by Harris Interactive for the National Gardening Association. For more information or to obtain your copy, go to www.gardenresearch.com.