US Home Gardening Consumer Insights Report

Report Overview

How Americans Are Reworking Gardening for Real Life

Home gardening is still a meaningful part of US consumer life, but it no longer looks like a one-size-fits-all activity. In 2026, the big story is how Americans are adapting gardening to housing access, available yard space, lifestyle changes, and personal priorities, from traditional in-ground beds to containers, indoor growing, and more flexible formats.

Key Themes Covered in this Report:

• How housing access shapes gardening behavior – homeownership, rental status, and private yard space strongly influence whether and how Americans garden.
• How gardening has evolved since the pandemic – participation has eased from its peak but remains above pre-pandemic levels, showing that gardening kept lasting consumer relevance.
• How Americans are adapting gardening to modern lifestyles – consumers are using a mix of in-ground beds, containers, and indoor growing, while preferences also vary between ornamental and edible gardening.

Featuring 35 Tables!

Home gardening remains a significant consumer activity in the US, but the way people participate is increasingly shaped by housing access, available outdoor space, and the need to adapt gardening to different living situations. Gardening still has strong ties to homeownership and private yard space, since households with control over outdoor property are generally better positioned to maintain garden beds, raised beds, and larger decorative plantings. At the same time, gardening is not limited to traditional single-family homeowners. Consumers who rent, live in multifamily housing, or lack private yard space still participate through containers, indoor plant growing, and other flexible formats that make gardening possible in smaller or less permanent spaces.

The gardening market is also still being shaped by the after-effects of the pandemic period. Participation rose sharply as more consumers spent time at home and invested in their living spaces, then moderated as work, travel, and daily routines became less home-centered again. Even so, gardening activity remains above pre-pandemic levels in several respects, especially in smaller-scale and more manageable formats such as compact outdoor gardens and indoor plant care. This suggests that the pandemic did not simply create a temporary spike in interest, but also expanded the long-term base of consumers who view gardening as a normal part of home life.

Consumers continue to garden for a mix of practical and personal reasons. For some, gardening helps improve curb appeal, make outdoor spaces more attractive, and support pride in the home. For others, it offers access to fresh produce, enjoyment, stress relief, or the satisfaction of nurturing plants. These overlapping motivations help explain why gardening remains relevant across a wide range of consumer groups, even as affordability pressures, limited yard access, and changing housing patterns influence how and where people grow plants.

Geography and residential setting also shape gardening behavior. Urban consumers are less likely to have private yard space and are therefore more dependent on indoor containers, pots, planters, and other compact gardening methods. Suburban and rural households are more likely to have the space needed for traditional outdoor gardening, including in-ground beds and raised beds. Regional differences in climate and growing conditions also influence what consumers grow and how they approach gardening. As a result, the home gardening market is not defined by one uniform consumer pattern, but by a range of gardening styles that reflect differences in housing, space, lifestyle, and motivation.

This report includes analysis, data, trends, and customized cross tabs using:

• Proprietary results from the February 2026 edition of The Freedonia Group National Online Consumer Survey.
• Syndicated national consumer survey results from MRI-Simmons Fall 2015-2025 Reports, and MRI-Simmons Spring 2015-2025 Reports.

US Home Gardening Consumer Insights Report Details

Housing Trends Mostly Stable Over the Past Decade

Homeownership is often an indicator of gardening activity, as consumers who own their own homes are more likely to have land around their home that is under their control and requires maintenance. However, gardening is not exclusive to homeowners. Condominium owners might not have land around their home designated for only their own use, while renters of single-family homes or duplexes might have land available to garden. Gardening can also be accessible to consumers who do not own their own home through the use of containers placed on balconies, patios, or rooftops, indoor gardens, or community gardens.

Between 2015 and 2019, homeownership rates were relatively stable. This stability suggests that, prior to the pandemic, the overall balance between owned and rented housing changed little, even as housing affordability challenges and demographic shifts continued to affect where and how consumers lived.

Between 2019 and 2021, however, homeownership rose sharply while the share of renters fell as:

• lower mortgage rates increased the affordability of homeownership
• pandemic-related aid gave some consumers added financial flexibility to change housing situations
• white-collar workers suddenly free to work from home and no longer factoring in long commutes shifted toward suburbs and exurbs
• some urban dwellers, often renters, sought less densely populated living environments
• remote work and remote schooling led many households to prioritize homes with more indoor and outdoor space

This pandemic-era shift proved temporary. By 2022, homeownership had fallen back to pre-pandemic levels while renting rose, where both measures then remained largely unchanged through 2025. The return to pre-pandemic patterns reflects:

• higher mortgage rates that reduced the affordability of homeownership
• elevated home prices that continued to put home purchases out of reach for many households
• limited housing inventory for prospective buyers
• return-to-office policies that reduced some of the flexibility that had supported moves into owned homes farther from employment centers

Home Gardening Consumer Insights Report Scope

This report includes analysis, data, trends, and customized cross tabs using proprietary results from the February 2026 edition of The Freedonia Group National Online Consumer Survey, along with syndicated national consumer survey results from MRI-Simmons Fall 2015-2025 Reports and MRI-Simmons Spring 2015-2025 Reports.