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Water Gardening Statistics

>> From: "Sheri Ann Richerson" <voulezvous@fwi.com>
Subject: Water Gardening Stastics


Hello.  I need some information on water gardening stastics.  

Are there any water gardening experts on the list or can anyone point me
to a web site that might have this.

I need to know the stastics on why water gardening is becoming more
popular. <<

Sheri,

Water gardening is my line of business. As far as I am aware there are no
web sites with the details that you ask for. Some of the large
manufacturers have carried out market research (e.g. Hagen/Laguna in the
USA) but this tends to be skewed towards helping to sell their own
products.

Here in the UK, it is considered that at least 10% of gardens now have a
water feature of some sort. However, not all of these will be a fully
fledged pond. Bubbling pebble fountains or pebble pools (sometimes called
disappearing ponds in the USA) have also proved popular, as they can fit in
a small area and are relatively child safe. Where proper ponds are
installed the majority include some sort of fish, usually goldfish,
sometimes koi.

The UK pond market started to grow in the mid to late 1970s with a real
surge in growth in the late 1980s. The early 1990s were affected by a
slight depression but there has been steady slow growth through the
industry since then, perhaps 5% or so per year in real terms. Growth has no
doubt been helped by the imaginative use of water features in prestigious
show gardens (RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court) and water features being
promoted by TV gardeners (Charlie Dimmock and Diarmud Gavin). There is also
a definite trend towards building ponds to encourage beneficial wildlife
into the garden. 

There is still some potential for future growth in the UK though probably
not at the high rates seen in the late 1980s-1990. The market in mainland
Europe is also substantial, particularly in Germany, though growth has
been restrained there over the past few years.

I have visited North America a number of times over the past 10 years
(usually with the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society -
IWGS). When I first visited in 1992, I considered the state of water
gardening to be at least ten years behind that of Europe. However, the
market has grown rapidly during the 1990s (I have heard figures of 20-30%+
per annum being spoken of) and I would guess that the North American market
has matured to be only a short way behind the European market now. 

In some cases the USA market has developed down different paths from the
UK. In the UK the vast majority of ponds are built and maintained by
homeowners; much of the trade has also developed as an extension of the
pet/aquarium trade. In the USA there is a substantial contractor sector
building (and sometimes maintaining) ponds. Many general contractors have
moved into this market due to the obvious potential, promoted by a few
pond/filter kit companies who have vigorously marketed their products.
There has been less connection with the pet/aquarium trade. 

Perhaps the period of extremely rapid growth in the US market is now
over. However, I would suspect that much less than 10% of American
gardeners have a water garden yet, so the potential for future growth
remains.

For further information you might want to subscribe to Pondkeeper
magazine (which targets the US trade sector) or Water Gardening (which
targets the US hobby sector). The UK has a number of water gardening &
pond/fish periodicals. You could also join the IWGS (www.iwgs.org) which
has an annual symposium attended by keen water gardeners and members of the
aquatic trade.

James Allison
Cheltenham UK


  Email from: James Allison, 23-Feb-2002

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