FEATURE
Gnome regrets
Britain’s most (and least) popular garden trends revealed
THE best and worst garden trends of all time have been revealed by leading tool firm Draper Tools - with bird feeders and vegetable patches among the good, and gnomes and fake grass among the bad.
The study of 2,000 UK adults with gardens also found that over a third of people say improving their garden is a priority right now, with almost 2 in 5 people planning to spend more on their garden this year than ever before.
Water features, summer houses and decking are viewed favourably among green-fingered Brits – as are herb gardens, living walls and outdoors kitchens. However, the nation is less enamoured with hot tubs, trampolines and wind chimes – and they’re also not keen on fences painted with orange wood stain, or conifers.
Sustainability in the garden is increasingly popular too, with trends including composting and wildflowers or wild
meadows making the top 30 list. Added to this, over half of the nation said the best thing about having a garden was attracting birds and wildlife to it. And a further third of people said the best thing was growing their own food.
Strong views
Commissioned to support the wide range of gardening essentials available from Draper Tools, the study found 83% of the population believe they have impeccable taste when it comes to their garden. Although 4 in 10 admit they regret some decisions they’ve made in relation to their outside space.
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Kev Smith Head of Marketing at Draper Tools said: “The research goes to show just how passionate we are as a nation about our gardens – clearly those polled have strong opinions on what works and what doesn’t.”
“In fact, 70% of people told us their garden is their ‘happy place’, so while garden choices will always be a very personal, individual thing, it’s certainly fascinating to find out what’s popular with the nation right now.”
There was further encouraging news for garden retailers, with 70% of people agreeing that spending money on the garden is a worthwhile investment and almost the same number saying it’s worth investing in quality garden tools too. The research also found Britain’s interest in their outside space is intensifying with more than 2 in 5 people admitting they’ve become more passionate about gardening in recent weeks.
Garden inspiration
It was found that garden retailers play a key role in enthusing Britain’s gardeners with 3 in 10 people saying they get most of their inspiration from visiting garden centres. Gardening TV programmes were also cited as also a popular source (26%) – as were family members (21%).
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