In 2020, gardening saw a serious increase in popularity, as people were now homebound and having to face the parts of their home they may not have seen before. Some were met with shocking realizations that food supply chains can become too variable and faced food insecurity. Across the world, these traits collided and drove many to home gardening.
In a survey of gardeners, Axiom Marketing determined that 48% of gardeners’ interest in the activity increased in 2020, though mainly in the area of flowers or aesthetic indoor plants.
Mike Reynolds, senior greenhouse team leader at Mulhall’s in Omaha, said he believes the driving force behind this new interest is people being home constantly and realizing some areas of their home are a little bare. It may also just be something productive to do.
“People are staying at home more, not really knowing what to do, it’s like, well, let’s get our hands dirty. Let’s, you know, plant our first garden,” he said.
Aside from the fulfillment factor and the food factor, some do it simply because they care. The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Indigenous Garden is a locally-founded garden of native plants run by volunteers with a passion for the project. Caretaker Kyle Finley said he started taking care of the garden after the original caretaker moved, but grew to know more about it and now enjoys taking care of the plants.
“It started off as maybe an interest, you know, helping a friend out interest but now it’s like, grown into a lot more than that, I would say,” Finley said.
Finley also said he enjoys it because he is able to grow things that people can use and eat. He said he thinks this may be why home gardening is seeing a surge in interest.
A recent study from Texas A7M University showed that when kids grew vegetables, they were more likely to have healthier eating habits outside of the community garden program where the vegetables were grown.
As for 2021, Reynolds said he thinks people will appreciate the risks, rewards and effort involved in plant care and hopes that the trend will carry on for years.
