With the official start of spring just weeks away, now is the time for gardeners to begin preparing for the growing season ahead. However, gardens are far from standard, with so many different types of plants to cultivate.
Among gardeners, nearly half of Americans (49%) prefer a vegetable garden, while just over one-in-three (35%) prefer a flower garden. Of course, those aren’t the only gardens available, as 10% like an herb garden and 7% are aiming for fruit trees or a whole orchard.
Those who prefer a vegetable garden skew male (55% vs 42%), while women take the lead on flower gardens (42% vs 27%). Among age groups, Gen Z leads in preferring an herb garden, while Baby Boomers outpace all others in their preference for flower gardens.
However, this demographic data is just the start of what sets each group of gardeners apart. Here’s a look into the data on gardeners and their preferences:
Lawn Care: Those who prefer vegetable gardens are the most likely to DIY their lawn and garden care, outpacing all others by at least 11 percentage points (among homeowners). Meanwhile, herb garden fans are the most likely to hire a professional, taking a 10 percentage point lead among all others in this category.
GMOs: Herb garden fans and flower garden fans are the most likely to avoid buying foods with GMOs, outpacing all others in this category by a minimum of 17 percentage points and six percentage points, respectively.
Plant-Based Meats: Those who prefer herb gardens are more than twice as likely as those who prefer vegetable gardens to intend to try plant-based meats (21% vs. 9%) and are seven points more likely to do so than flower garden fans (21% vs 14%).
Interior Design: While more than half (59%) of herb garden fans say they follow trends in home and interior decorating ‘closely,’ flower garden fans follow in second (47%) and vegetable garden fans take third (35%).
Cooking: Vegetable garden fans enjoy cooking the most, outpacing all others by at least 10 percentage points.
As the data show, there is a garden type for everyone, as each style of garden attracts a unique consumer with distinguishing preferences that extend beyond the backyard.
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This article’s data comes solely from CivicScience’s database, which contains nearly 700,000 poll questions and 5 billion consumer insights.