US gardening spending climbed to a record $79.0 billion in 2026, according to newly released survey data — even as roughly 4.5 million households abandoned the hobby altogether. The paradox, unusual enough that researchers say they have not seen anything like it in fifty years of tracking the category, is reshaping who gardens, how much they spend, and what the industry sells them next.
A Record High, Built on Fewer but Deeper Spenders
The National Gardening Survey, published by Garden Research, the research division of the National Gardening Association, found that total US household spending on lawn and garden activities rose 13.5% over 2024 to reach an all-time high. Average spending per gardening household climbed to $740, up 18.3% and also a record. Yet participation fell: about 4.5 million fewer households gardened in 2025 than the year before.
Garden Research’s executive director described the combination of shrinking participation and record gardening spending as a pattern the organization has not documented in fifty years of tracking the category. Fewer people are gardening, but the ones who remain are investing noticeably more per household.
The Middle-Class Gardener Is Disappearing
The survey describes an emerging barbell-shaped consumer base: participation is holding up, or even growing, among both lower-income and higher-income households, while middle-income gardeners — many of whom took up the hobby during the pandemic — are the ones leaving. It echoes what is happening in other categories of household budgets, where shoppers are cutting back on other categories of spending while concentrating what money they do spend on fewer, more essential purchases.
Inflation Explains Part of the Number
Not all of the $79 billion figure reflects real growth. Cumulative inflation across gardening-related categories ran 25.9% between 2019 and 2025, and as high as 50.2% for professional gardening services, according to the survey’s new “spending in real terms” analysis, which weighs each category against matching consumer and producer price indexes. Against that backdrop — and against elevated inflation figures reported elsewhere this year — some of the reported increase is households absorbing higher prices rather than buying more.
Even adjusted for inflation, some categories still show genuine growth. Vegetable gardening households spent an average of $108 in 2025, up from $85, pushing total vegetable-gardening spending to $4.7 billion — a 15.5% compound annual growth rate since 2021.
An Industry Betting on the Gardeners Who Stayed
A separate outlook study from market research firm Axiom Marketing points to where growth may come from next. It found 64% of gardeners plan to plant more and expand their gardens in 2026, and just over half expect to spend more time gardening than they did the year before. The generational split is sharp: 66.7% of Gen Y and 63.8% of Gen Z gardeners say they spent more time gardening in 2025, compared with only 33.1% of Gen X.
That younger, more engaged gardener increasingly treats plants the way other households treat personal, design-led home spaces — as an extension of identity rather than simple upkeep. Retailers and growers are responding with more premium, collectible plant varieties and garden décor aimed squarely at that audience, much as demand has shifted toward higher-value home renovation projects over smaller, incremental fixes.
Facts, Forecasts, and Open Questions
What is confirmed: the $79 billion total, the $740 per-household average, the 4.5 million households that left gardening in 2025, and the inflation figures are all drawn directly from the published survey data. What remains a forecast: whether the barbell pattern holds through the rest of 2026, and whether the middle-income households who left will return once budgets ease. Framing this as a turning point for the sector is commentary, not measured fact — the data itself confirms only that spending is up, participation is down, and the two trends have not moved together like this before.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did US households spend on gardening in 2025?
Total US household spending on lawn and garden activities reached $79.0 billion in 2025, a 13.5% increase over 2024 and a record high, according to the National Gardening Survey published by Garden Research.
Why did gardening participation drop while spending rose?
Roughly 4.5 million households stopped gardening in 2025, mostly from the middle-income bracket. Meanwhile, the gardeners who remained — concentrated among lower-income and higher-income households — spent more per household, an average of $740, up 18.3% from the prior year.
Is the record spending figure adjusted for inflation?
Only partly. Cumulative inflation in gardening-related categories reached 25.9% between 2019 and 2025, and as high as 50.2% for gardening services, meaning some of the reported spending increase reflects higher prices rather than higher volumes.
Sources
- Garden Research – National Gardening Survey, 2026 Edition
- Greenhouse Management – Findings from the National Gardening Association’s 2026 National Gardening Survey
- Greenhouse Grower – Annual 2026 Gardening Outlook Study Reveals Trends for the New Year
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence. Editorial policy
