2014 Garden Trends Report Whitepaper
People are beginning to truly understand the relationship between gardening and connecting with nature - and how this can lead to a fully satisfied, purposeful life.
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) January 23, 2014
Following the release of its annual consumer trends report, Garden Media Group has released an in-depth look at each of its twelve garden trends in a new whitepaper.
According to the 2014 Garden Trends Whitepaper, consumers are spending more leisure time outdoors and not only “decorating” their homes but their gardens as well.
The 2014 Garden Trends notes the worldwide gardening and outdoor living market is expected to increase yearly by almost 3.5% through 2016, when it should reach almost $220 billion. In North America, where the market was flat for the past four years at $58 billion, annual growth is expected at one percent over four years.
This time around, though, frivolity and wasteful spending are out.
“Consumers are vowing to restore balance to their lives,” says Susan McCoy, trend spotter and president of Garden Media Group, the leading marketing firm in the lawn and garden industry.
“People are determined to be happy again, but not at the expense of what’s important in their lives. They are being thoughtful in their actions and mindful of their impact on the economy, their locale, and the environment.”
According to the Garden Trends Report, people are beginning to truly understand the relationship between gardening and connecting with nature – and how this can lead to a fully satisfied, purposeful life.
So what’s fueling this growth? Pulling together findings from global market research firms, consumer media and experts within the home and garden industry, Garden Media has formed 12 trends to prepare for in 2014.
1. Ground Up: Recycling food scraps and creating compost is the new recycling. Products like The Green Cycler® make it easy to pre-compost right on the kitchen counter.
2. Super Foods, Super Models: Edibles are going to the next level with foodies growing everything from quinoa to dandelions in straw bales and keyhole gardens.
3. Drink Your Garden: People are drinking their gardens using such super foods from their gardens, like BrazelBerries® blueberries and raspberries to craft cocktails and green smoothies. “Fermentation gardens are the new chickens,” says Rebecca Reed of Southern Living. People are growing hops for home-brewing, grapes for home-made wine.
4. Dress Up Your Yard: From decorative throw pillows to decorative insect traps like the RESCUE!® OrnamenTrap™, people want their yards to have a personal stamp.
5. Bee-neficials: It’s all about the bees this year. Bees are at forefront of environmentally aware consumers’ minds, inspiring them to plant native, pollen rich flowers, trees and veggies to provide safe shelters.
6. Cultur-vating: Taking local to the next level, people are growing the world in their gardens, mixing cultures and embracing what is local to their own region.
7. Simple Elegance: Think one color flower in an elegant container, like Suntory®’s Surfinia Heavenly Blue in an eco-chic, hand-cast NativeCast planter.
8. Frac’d Up: Neat clean lines are out as explosions of color in fractional shapes like triangles, circles and squares dominate design.
9. Young Men Get Down and Dirty: Big surprise here: young men 18-34 are spending $100 more than the average gardener. They are grilling, growing their own hops for beer, and taking the kids out to play in the dirt.
10. Think Gardens: Plants make us smarter, more productive and less stressed and are showing up in offices, schools and hospitals across the country. Costa Farms’® ‘O2 For You®: Houseplants with a Purpose’ campaign communicates the full benefits of indoor plants.
11. Fingertip Gardens: Gardens go high tech with mobile apps and technology, like Suntory®’s easy Virtual Container Designer app.
12. Tree-mendous Reversal: Losing more than four million urban trees a year, Americans are being asked to plant trees. There are many environmental, economical, and emotional benefits of trees. Plant a tree – or care for one you have - this year and be part of this growing trend.
The complete 2014 Garden Media Trends whitepaper is available for free download. Individual global and garden trends for 2014 will be discussed in more detail every Thursday on the Garden Media blog, GROW!
Celebrating 25 years, Garden Media offers innovative PR campaigns and secures top media placements and partnerships for its clients. The boutique PR and marketing firm is known as the best in the home, garden, horticulture, outdoor living, and lawn and landscape industries. The annual Garden Trends Report is one of the most published garden studies in trade and consumer news.
