Gardening increases nationally

Connie Halverson, like many homeowners across the nation, is the proud new proprietor of her own vegetable garden.

After finding a recipe for vegetable gardens in a magazine, Halverson, a Northfield resident, decided to plant her own, and fill it with tomatoes and peppers. Her reasoning: having a garden saves her money that would otherwise be spent on groceries.

It’s because of customers like Halverson, who was shopping for hostas at Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping earlier this summer, that local nurseries and plant retailers are seeing stronger sales this spring. As more and more people turn to grow-it-yourself gardening to save money on food bills, gardening centers nation-wide are reaping the benefits.

“We had a strong hunch that our business would be up slightly, because we thought that people would stay home and spruce things up around the house a little bit,” said Leif Knecht, the owner of Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping.

Knecht says his business saw a 6 percent increase in total sales this spring. But vegetable seeds and home gardening supplies aren’t the only area where sales have been spurred on, ironically, by the poor economy. Many homeowners, looking to improve the value of their property, have been purchasing shrubbery, perennials and trees to spruce up their homes, Knecht said. Combine that with mild weather, Knecht added, and his nursery experienced its best spring in terms of retail sales since it opened 11 years ago.

The sales, primarily to private residential property owners, have meant that Knecht has aggressively reordered plants to keep his inventory stocked. But Knecht isn’t the only gardening or seed retailer in the area who has seen a boom in business this year.

Mike Lagen, the general manager for Menards in Dundas, estimates that its has experienced a 25-30 percent jump in the sale of home gardening supplies and seeds, while Stan Boe, the owner of the Faribault Garden Center, guesses he’s had a 30 percent increase in vegetable seed sales.





“Compared to the rest of the economy, we’re in a significantly better situation,” Boe said. “We were surprised at how well we did.”

But the increased sale of gardening supplies and seed isn’t rosy for everyone involved. Strider Hammer, the manager of the produce department for Just Food Co-op, is planning for zero sales growth through the next six months, because of the home gardening trend.

“We are supported by over 1,800 household memberships, and if they all have their own gardens, we’ll definitely see the impact of that,” Hammer said. Still, Hammer said, the Co-op is offering canning, dehydrating and freezing classes to teach families how to store their raw produce.

“I think there’s a lot of people wanting to save money, so they’re growing their own vegetables,” Lagen said.

A National Gardening Association’s market research report estimates that 7 million more Americans will plant vegetable gardens in 2009, which would be an increase of 19 percent over last year. In 2008, approximately 31 percent of American households, or 36 million, had vegetable gardens. More than 20 percent of those households gardening in 2009, the report said, will be new to gardening.

According to the association, a properly maintained vegetable garden yields roughly a half-pound of produce per square foot of gardening area — an amount worth $2 at current market prices. By that reasoning, a 100-square foot garden would yield $200 worth of produce each year.