2025 New and Novice Gardener Survey graphic | Axiom Marketing
New gardeners and novice gardeners who started gardening in the past four years will keep gardening in 2025; however, fewer will increase their garden spending and time spent gardening in the coming year according to a newly released report from Axiom Marketing.
“New and novice gardeners seem to be planning on moderating their garden pursuits in 2025,” says Mike Reiber, Axiom Marketing CEO. “Despite high satisfaction and feelings of success, most plan to spend the same amount of money and time in 2025. Fewer will increase their garden purchases and their time spent in the garden compared to 2024.”
2025 New and Novice Gardener Study – Findings
- 2025 Garden Spending Maintaining but Trending Down – 54.6% plan to spend the same amount in 2025 as they did in 2024; however, respondents planning to spend more in 2025 fell by 13.5% compared to 2024 study results.
- 2025 Time in Garden Maintaining but Trending Down – 47.1% will spend the same amount of time in 2025 as they did in 2024; however, respondents planning to spend more time in 2025 fell by 13.5% compared to 2024 study results.
- Plant More and Expand Gardens Increasing but Lower than 2024 – 38.3% will plant the same amount as they did last year; however, respondents planning to plant more and expand their gardens in 2015 fell by 19% compared to 2024 study results.
- Fewer Likely to Pay More for The Plants They Want – Despite a willingness to drive up to 10 miles to find the colors of flowers or vegetable plant varieties they want, 38.3% are unwilling to pay more – an increase of 12.8% compared to the 2024 study results. Price (12.3%) is cited as the third most important factor in plant purchase decisions. The specific variety of plant (32.6%) and national brand (14.5%) are the top two most important factors.
- Organically and Locally Grown Less Important – Organically and locally grown plants are likely less important in 2025, falling 18.8% and 15.5%, respectively, compared to the 2024 study.
- Seeds Less Important – Buying seeds to grow garden plants and planting seeds to save money decreased by 22% and 9.4%, respectively, compared to the 2024 study.
“New and novice gardeners seem to be more price-sensitive based on price being the third most important plant purchase attribute,” says Reiber. “Perceived price differences may explain why organically and locally grown plants are less important in 2025. In our 2025 Gardening Outlook Study, price did not surface as a major issue when it comes to garden purchases.”
2025 New and Novice Gardener Study – Participants
Axiom recruited 300 new gardeners who’ve gardened four years or less, who own a home, and who purchased a garden plant in 2024. Of these respondents, 35.2% are first-time gardeners and 64.8% have gardened two to four years. Three-quarters (75.8%) characterize themselves as casual gardeners. More than three-quarters of respondents live in urban or suburban environments in the U.S.
To download the 2025 Axiom New and Novice Gardener Study click here: https://axiomcom.com/2025-new-and-novice-gardener-survey/.
