Research Verdict says gardening is in recession

It appears, from recently published statistics, all is not well in the garden. Maybe more to the point, all is not well in the Garden centre.

A recently published report by Verdict Research, a retail analyst company, finds that the UK DIY gardening market has gone into recession.

After many many years of exponential growth, data proves that the gardening and DIY sector has declined 3.2% in 2005 and a further 0.02% in 2006 making it only the second sector (music and video the other) in retail to decline.

Unfortunately for the gardening retail sector the news is a little muddied due to gardening data being lumped in with DIY.

DIY has taken a hammering as potential DIY'ers, flush with money in a booming economy pay tradesman to carry out the jobs around the house.

The DFY (done for you) brigade also help contribute to an already huge black market in the gardening and DIY sectors. When there is a boom the market is a wash with money and tradesman who are earning a good whack will salt away a good percentage in cash.

A house owner who is faced with two estimates, one for cash avoiding 17.5% in VAT and a further reduction because the trader is avoiding income tax is always going to be chosen ahead of the 'official' quote on paper.

Perversely, when a recession in all sectors bite, DIY revives as cash strapped home owners who once employed tradesman are forced to go it alone once again.

Innovate to stay ahead For the garden retailer, innovation and a fresh approach will often get results. Offer a free Christmas Tree rather than give a 10% discount on all purchases above £100 for instance. The consumer loves to feel they have something for nothing.

One thing is for sure, gardening will never go away and as leisure time continues to rise then so will gardening and associated products.