Research

The cost of Britain’s gardens

16 / 07 / 2024

Alick Burnett

Managing director

Rejuvenating your garden can be a daunting task, taking up a heap of time, energy, money and imagination. But it’s also hugely rewarding, with beautiful gardens thought to improve our well-being simply by offering a soothing place to relax.

With the help of Norstat, we reached out to over 1,000 people across the UK, evenly split by age, gender and location to understand the cost of Britain's gardens.

As part of our research, we also reached out to several landscapers in every region of the UK to find out how much is costs to landscape a garden in the UK.

To do this, we asked for each landscapers hourly rate. Bear in mind that this fee is for labour alone so you would have to add the cost of any necessary ground clearing and materials you may need.

(Northern Ireland and Wales have been excluded due to a lack of data.)

How much does landscaping cost around the UK?

The average cost of landscaping varies widely.

Predictably, London was the most expensive area with the average cost per hour at £61.58, 36.64% above the national average of £45.07! This can be attributed to higher living expenses and a higher demand for landscaping services in urban areas.

In fact, we reached out to several landscaping professionals in London to find out how much on average it would cost to turf the average UK garden size and sow a simple flower bed within. The cost came to £6,397 vs other areas of the UK, like Southwest England, where the average cost came to £3,171.

Following behind is East of England with an average cost of £48.48 per hour (7.57% above average), along with the South East at £48.09 (6.71% above average).

The most affordable place to hire a landscaper was the Midlands at 17.06% below the national average with an average hourly cost of £39.97.

Following closely behind is Scotland at £37.84 per hour (16.04% below average).

The cost of landscaping in 2024 vs 2019

The average cost to turf and sow a simple flower bed strip is over £1,000.

Back in 2019, we ran a survey to determine the cost of hiring a landscaper to turf and sow a simple flower bed in the average-sized UK garden.

Below we've adjusted the pricing for inflation in 2024, which shows that the average cost to turf and sow a simple flower bed strip is over £1,000.

2019 regions in order of average cost:

Region	Average cost	% compared to average	Cost in 2024 adjusted for inflation
London	£1260	+51%	£1,565
North West	£1150	+38%	£1,428
South East	£910	+10%	£1,130
East of England	£820	-1%	£1,018
The Midlands	£790	-5%	£981
North East	£750	-10%	£931
South West	£735	-11%	£912
Northern Ireland	£690	-17%	£857
Wales	£610	-26%	£757
Scotland	£560	-33%	£695
Average cost	£830		£1,027

How much are people spending on gardening in the UK?

Our first survey question asked how much people estimate to have spent on their garden in the past three years.

The likelihood of spending more on gardening increases with age.

Our research found that approximately 20% of people, across all age brackets, haven’t spent any money in the past three years, which suggests that there’s a portion of the population that either doesn’t prioritise gardening or finds it financially challenging.

A small amount of each age group reported only spending between £25-£50, The lowest and highest age brackets had the highest percentages of this group.

The amount of people spending under £500 over the past 3 years has risen slightly since 2019 from 64% to 68%.

The likelihood of spending more on gardening increases with age, with the 55-65 and 65+ age brackets being the biggest spenders and the most likely to make significant investments in their gardens. You could assume that this is due to more free time in retirement along with a higher amount of disposable income.

Garden spending by region

When we look at the data by region, London and the South East show a higher percentage of respondents in the higher spending brackets, potentially reflecting higher disposable incomes or a desire to invest in gardens in more urban areas.

On the other end of the spectrum, Northern Ireland, the North East and the North West generally reported lower spending, possibly due to less of a desire for gardening or economic factors.

Region	Amount spent
	£0	£25-50	£51-150	£151-250	£251-500	£501-750	£751-1,000	£1,002-2,000	£2,001-3,000	£3,001-4,000	£4,001-5,000	Over £5,000
London	15%	10%	4%	4%	8%	4%	10%	3%	24%	5%	17%	3%
East of England	6%	2%	8%	11%	10%	5%	6%	10%	20%	5%	8%	12%
South East	11%	9%	6%	10%	7%	9%	4%	11%	5%	5%	0%	18%
North West	7%	13%	11%	7%	8%	13%	8%	6%	2%	5%	8%	9%
North East	8%	7%	9%	11%	8%	9%	8%	7%	7%	10%	8%	9%
South West	8%	9%	9%	7%	10%	13%	4%	8%	5%	0%	0%	15%
Yorkshire	8%	9%	7%	11%	8%	10%	5%	10%	5%	20%	0%	3%
Scotland	9%	7%	11%	4%	9%	6%	10%	13%	2%	10%	0%	6%
East Midlands	9%	9%	7%	10%	9%	3%	11%	11%	2%	10%	25%	6%
West Midlands	8%	5%	7%	8%	6%	14%	10%	10%	15%	10%	8%	12%

Garden spending in recent years

Back in 2019, we ran a similar survey to determine people’s garden spending habits, at which time we found there was a serious decline in spending with a high percentage of respondents spending £500 or less.

In 2020 however, the pandemic caused significant growth in garden spending with UK households spending around £6.2 billion, increasing further to £7.6 billion in 2021.

Being stuck at home with nothing to do meant that over 7 million new people picked up their watering cans and took on gardening as a hobby, with 54% of millennials now preferring to visit a garden centre rather than a nightclub as of 2023.

Although figures have dropped from spending during the pandemic, the amount of garden spending has remained higher than our 2019 data, likely an after-effect of the 2020 pandemic.

What are Britain's barriers to gardening?

We then asked participants what they felt were the biggest barriers preventing them from having the garden that they would like.

The top answer at 44.05% was the expense or cost of maintenance, which was most prevalent in the younger 25-34 (23.67%) and 35-44 (23.01%) age brackets, with the lowest concern in the 65+ age group (16.59%)

This follows the trend from the previous question that the amount spent on gardening increases with age.

The next most common answer at 30.70% was time or energy spent. This was lowest in the youngest 25-34 age group and surprisingly the oldest 65+. It appeared to be a major issue for middle-aged respondents in the 45-54 age group, with one in four people in that group claiming that this would be an issue for them.

While the 65+ group are more likely to retire from work, the 45-54 age group are likely still in the workforce, with different pressures than the younger age groups, which could explain why they would cite this as one of their largest barriers to gardening.

The third highest answer, closely followed by a lack of space and knowledge, was the weather, which was surprisingly problematic for the 25-34 age group. This barrier became less of a concern as age increased.

Outside of these primary barriers of cost, energy/time and weather, the barriers to gardening vary significantly among the age groups.

The impact of the cost of living crisis on gardening

These results show a stark contrast when compared to our previous 2019 survey, where we found that 44.5% of people felt a lack of time and energy was their main barrier, while cost was only an issue for 14.5% of respondents.

2019 vs 2024

Barrier	2019	2024	% Difference
Lack of time / energy	44.5%	30.70%	-13.8%
Cost	14.5%	44.05%	+29.5%

With a rise in inflation, stagnant wages, rising energy prices and increased costs of goods and services, the recent cost of living crisis has significantly impacted household budgets and the disposable income of the average UK household.

With this in mind, you can understand why 29.55% more people cite cost as a barrier to gardening in 2024 vs 2019.

Rising prices mean that tools, supplies and plants are more expensive, while higher energy costs and utility bills may impact people's ability to maintain their gardens. With more disposable income going towards essentials like food, people have less money to spend on hobbies like gardening.

The other noticeable change is that 13.80% fewer people stated that a lack of time or energy was a problem for them.

This may have been influenced by the pandemic which resulted in a shift to more flexible, remote and hybrid work patterns, granting people more control over their schedules and allowing more free time for gardening.

During the pandemic, gardening was also recommended by experts to benefit people's mental health while being stuck at home. As people are now more aware of the positive impact that gardening can have on their mental health and well-being, it may be more of a priority in their schedules.

The survey data clearly shows the impact that the cost of living crisis has had on people's ability to own their ideal gardens, with the significant hike in cost as a barrier underlining the economic pressure that many households are facing.

Barriers by age

25-34

The youngest respondents, aged 25-34, were understandably most concerned about a lack of space.

Reasons for this may include younger people being more likely to live in cities and urban areas where outdoor space is at a premium, with London’s average garden size reported to be 26% smaller than the national average.

This group also answered highest for a lack of knowledge and not knowing where to start, indicating that there perhaps needs to be more education and resources around gardening for younger people.

35-44

This age group was the most significantly concerned about the weather with 30% reporting that this is a major barrier for them.

Expense is still a larger barrier for this age group, but unlike the 25-34's, we start to see a lack of time and energy as a more prominent concern for this age group.

45-54

Following on, having no time or energy for gardening is the primary barrier for 45-54 year olds.

This group still had a notable issue with the cost of maintenance and weather concerns but less so than the younger participants.

55+

In the 55-64 bracket we start to see a shift in barriers.

Weather, space, time and energy are no longer a concern for this group. Instead, their primary barrier to gardening is that they already have the garden they want (30.56%)

This continues for the 65+ group with 37.50% agreeing that they already have their dream garden, however a lack of time or energy creeps back in with 16.51% stating that this is an issue for them.

Overall, our survey shows that cost is the biggest issue for the younger age groups and is less significant for older participants, yet it still remains a problem across all age groups.

Those in the younger age brackets have more time and energy for gardening but struggle with space and a lack of knowledge.

Conclusion

Young people are facing more barriers to gardening.

Our survey of over 1,000 UK residents shows that age and economic factors are playing a large role in how much people are willing to spend on their gardens. While the cost of living crisis has had a significant impact on people's ability to own and maintain a nice garden.

Our research reveals large regional differences in the cost to hire a landscaper and spending habits, with London emerging as the most expensive region, while the Midlands and Scotland offer more affordable prices.

The amount that us Brits spend on gardening has increased since the 2020 pandemic, particularly among older age groups, however, the younger age brackets are facing more barriers like cost, a lack of space and a lack of knowledge. Cost especially has been heightened by the cost of living crisis, making gardening a less accessible hobby for many.

Despite economic challenges, the data suggests that an increased interest in gardening during the pandemic has had a lasting effect, which is a nice contrast to the large decline in spending we saw in our previous 2019 survey.

How to keep a green garden without much maintenance

Although paving over your garden is a low-maintenance, one-and-done approach, the RHS has asked the nation to transform their cold, grey gardens, into beautiful places to enjoy.

A report by Savills states that 'demand for homes with larger gardens and outside space has increased significantly over the past three years', going as far to say that gardens can double the value of a property in the city.

Having a picturesque garden doesn’t always mean you have to dedicate every moment of your free time to care for it. With a large portion of the population concerned about the cost of maintenance, planning an artificial garden is worth looking into.

Using artificial plants to brighten a dull garden

By going even partially faux, your only expense is the cost of purchasing your artificial plants. After that, there's no need to spend money on pest deterrents or plant feed and you'll save money on your water bill in the long run. What's more, they'll help to transform any grey spaces into a bright, flourishing space.

You could mix a real grass lawn with some easy-care artificial hedgerows to tidy up your borders, or brighten up a dull patio with some easy, outdoor faux flowers.

Artificial hanging baskets are another great way to add colour to your outdoor spaces with minimum effort and upkeep, and can be styled for different seasons while a few outdoor palm trees can help to bring a warm, tropical vibe to your garden.

If you're short on space, consider vertical gardening, made easy with the help of faux green wall panels to transform old walls and fences into stunning green spaces.

Add extra realism by blending your faux plants with low-maintenance living foliage that won’t require constant upkeep, like a single bed of wildflowers penned in with sleepers or stones to stop them from spreading out of control.