Gardening Ain't Up Guys

**Jeff Ball j*@usol.com**

Suzie, I know you have to tout the figures for your clients and I  
know Bruce has to market his annual study; go for it.
Now, for we garden writers, members of a family, let's not get  
carried away.  The definition of a "gardener" in the NGA study is  
someone caring for at least a single plant, including a lawn.  The  
NGA  number exceeds the true number of real gardeners and real  
yardeners (non-gardening homeowners). If you live in a condo on the  
22nd floor in Manhatten and have a single houseplant by the  
fireplace, you are a gardener in the NGA study.
I figure the number of real gardeners, people for whom gardening is a  
hobby taking time for pleasure, stands around 15 million (there are  
several ways to get to that figure).  The number of yardeners, in my  
estimate stands around 50 to 60 million, however other studies now  
show that 50% of American homeowners have someone else take care of  
their lawns.  Therefore, yardeners who actually care for their lawns  
and satisfy the NGA definition may be only 30 million.  So in real  
numbers only about 40 to 45 million people are truly gardeners or  
yardeners, and that is about 50% of homeowners; more people play golf  
or tennis I think.
Now that doesn't mean that sometimes, we need to use the NGA figures,  
but don't buy into them for your own knowledge base.

Jeff Ball
jeffball@usol.com
810-724-8581
Check out my daily blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
Check out my extensive web site at www.yardener.com

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters