Small garden, big market

With the advent of spring, domestic and foreign consumption in outdoor tourism and flower planting and other fields has increased.

In Europe and the United States, owning a “single-family house with a yard” is very common, and about 55 percent of American households have a garden. People not only enjoy the closeness of outdoor activities and nature, but also introduce green elements into the home, and growing flowers and vegetables has become a new hobby for many people.

According to Google Trends data, the term “Outdoor garden” has maintained between 50 and 100 searches globally in the past 30 days, with the UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada and the US being the main search sources.

Driven by this popularity, searches for “Outdoor sofa” soared by 120%, while searches for “Lattice trellises” rose by 100%. In addition, related topics such as potted benches, outdoor heavy-duty standing garden planters and garden furniture collections continue to receive attention.

Statista data shows that the value of the global horticulture market broke the $100 billion mark in 2020, reaching about $104 billion, and it is expected that the market will reach $130 billion by 2024. The global garden equipment and supplies market will maintain steady growth.

Meanwhile, according to LinkedIn, the global lawn and garden consumables market is valued at $19.383 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.45% over the forecast period to reach $26.648 billion by 2027. In terms of geographical distribution, North American countries such as the United States, Canada and Mexico, European countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Russia, as well as Asia Pacific regions such as China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as some countries in South America, the Middle East and Africa are important players in this market.

As the horticultural market continues to expand in size, sales of consumable products such as fertilizers, pesticides and seeds for lawns and gardens continue to grow. In the face of the ever-changing market and the diversified shopping needs of consumers, how will the consumption trend of the overseas horticultural market change?

In recent years, the concept of urban vegetable gardens has gradually emerged. Consumers are increasingly paying attention to green concepts, especially in the wake of the pandemic, and are pursuing sustainable gardening principles in line with healthy living trends.

From planting flowers and grass to garden planting, consumers have purchased various vegetable seeds such as cucumbers, tomatoes and greens from online or offline and carefully planted them in the garden, which has become one of the important trends in garden gardening in 2024.

According to Gardenpals, 35 percent of American households grow vegetables, fruits and other foods. Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable grown by 86% of users, followed by cucumbers (47%), bell peppers (46%), beans (39%), carrots (34%), zucchini (32%), Onions (32%), peppers (31%), lettuce (28%) and peas (24%).

Under the concept of sustainable agriculture and green ecology, the trend of vegetable gardening is rising.

At the same time, consumers’ aesthetic concepts are also changing. Many families no longer blindly buy flowers and plants to cultivate in gardening, but began to customize garden gardening themes according to their favorite styles.

For example, by adding climbing plants, the use of specific shapes of flower shelves, outdoor decorations, different colors of lights or flowers, etc., to create a unique garden style.

Themes such as Dark Gothic gardens, sci-fi gardens, minimalist gardens and neo-Chinese gardens are popular gardening choices for overseas users, according to ThePatioCompanyMa.

In addition, the main body of horticultural consumption is gradually becoming younger. According to Gardenpals data, National Gardening Association statistics for 2021 show that the COVID-19 pandemic has spawned 18.3 million new gardeners. Garden centers in the United States and Canada saw a 65 percent increase in their millennial customer base, while the Generation Z group saw a 44 percent increase.

In the past, growing vegetables and flowers was usually considered an activity for elderly retirees, but with the change in consumption attitudes, gardening overseas is no longer the exclusive preserve of the elderly. This means that the consumer base of garden gardening is becoming younger and younger.

So what products will this crop of young garden enthusiasts drive growth?

First, outdoor gardening tools. With warmer temperatures and a warmer climate, now is the perfect time to garden and grow flowers and vegetables. For new gardeners, planting tools such as a rake, garden shovel, watering pot, pot, flower stand, garden fence, rain boots, straw hat, gloves, garden scissors and garden cart are all essential garden products.

In addition, in addition to the lawn mowers and high-pressure cleaners mentioned earlier, garden lawn machinery products such as ground drills and shredders, as well as tool sets such as wrenches and screwdrivers have also become popular best-selling products.

Second is outdoor furniture. According to eBay, from the end of February, sales of the garden and home category began to surge in March and are expected to peak in May-June and continue to be hot until the end of the third quarter.

Among them, the sales of furniture products such as outdoor sofas, garden carpets, throw pillows, terrace chairs, outdoor gazebos, garden swings and outdoor tables have increased particularly significantly.

As the weather turns hot, in tropical and subtropical areas, outdoor awning, screens and outdoor mosquito repellent umbrellas will also become popular garden household items.

Then there are the garden decoration products. As mentioned earlier, consumers are paying more and more attention to the theme style of the garden, and stylish garden decoration is the key to creating a diverse theme.