More money for gardens

Market researchers GfK are currently registering high rates of growth in the UK garden market right across all product categories. Some examples of the sales plus compared with the first months of the previous year: lawn fertilizers 9 per cent, lawn sprinklers 17 per cent, grass seed 19 per cent, plant fertilizers 15 per cent, weed-killers 58 per cent, pesticides and disease control products 12 per cent, insecticides for flying pests 64 per cent, irrigation 19 per cent, barbecues 70 per cent. The market researchers stress that the market has grown both by value and by volume. They therefore conclude that consumers are willing to spend more money on improving outdoor areas. Admittedly, the weather can also be seen as one reason for this, with the warmest spring since weather records began.