All-time-high spending. A smaller gardening audience. Get the full data behind the most consequential year for the U.S. lawn and garden market since the pandemic.
2026 Research Bundle NGS 2026 WGT 2026For the first time since 2019, the U.S. gardening audience contracted — and yet total spending hit an all-time high. The 2026 reports tell the full story behind the paradox.
The casual middle-income gardener who entered during the pandemic is exiting. The committed gardener who stayed is investing more deeply than ever. Full breakdown in the NGS 2026 Edition.
Per-participant spending surged across nearly every major category in 2025. Several categories hit all-time highs.
All 15 activities, with full demographic cross-tabs and inflation-adjusted analysis, are inside the NGS 2026.
Beneath the headline, three structural inversions are reshaping the next five years of industry strategy.
Renters who garden out-purchase homeowners in vegetable seed (43.5% vs. 36.6%) and herb seed (32.7% vs. 22.0%) — the leading signal of where small-space, container-driven demand is showing up first.
Households under 35 are converting lawns into natural or wildflower landscapes at nearly 4× the rate of the 65+ cohort (19% vs. 5%). 38% of under-35 gardeners buy natural or organic fertilizer, vs. 14% of those 65+.
Among households planning to garden more in 2026, roughly two in three cite inflation as an important reason. Home centers won 2025, raising spend share +5 points to 43.0%, while online delivery hit a record 45.9%.
Two analytical layers the industry has been missing, debuting in the 2026 reports.
A record $79.0B sounds like a boom — but cumulative inflation from 2019 to 2025 ran +25.9% overall and as high as +50.2% for gardening services. The new Spending in Real Terms section classifies every major activity's spending change against the matching BLS CPI/PPI threshold — flagging which categories are real growth, which are absorbing price increases, and which are quietly in real decline.
Inside the NGS 2026 →61% of gardeners say they would garden more often if they simply knew more about it — making knowledge the second-largest barrier to participation, behind only time. Search engines (42%) and video (31%) have eclipsed traditional gardening magazines as the dominant teaching channels. The first new What Gardeners Think in five years maps the full motivation, barrier, and information landscape across twelve segments.
Inside the WGT 2026 →Two flagship reports released together for the first time — now available bundled or separately.
The definitive annual report on U.S. lawn and garden participation, spending, and trends - now with an all-new Spending in Real Terms section.
The psychographic deep-dive returns for the first time since 2021. Motivations, barriers, and twelve full segment profiles.
The NGS owns the numbers. WGT owns the story. Bought together they answer every layer of the question industry leaders are asking in 2026.
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