Corporate Gardens Grow as Firms Try to Entice Employees Back to the Office

Many employees are not looking forward to giving up the remote work life of the pandemic era. In order to entice them back to the office, companies are investing in improving their office spaces – with a particular focus on outdoor areas. Beehives, garden plots, and other green-space amenities that consumers could easily escape to while working from home are seeing increased use in courtyards and rooftops of office buildings.

Whether or not these efforts succeed in luring employees back to the office, the rising trend of corporate gardens will aid near-term growth in the commercial market for landscaping products, which is forecast to grow 3.4% annually through 2025, according to a new Freedonia Group analysis.

Landscaping products expected to benefit include:

• pots, planters, and raised beds
• edging and other hardscaping products that support gardening
• outdoor structures such as pergolas that provide shade and make outdoor spaces more comfortable
• water features to boost outdoor aesthetics

Corporate Garden Surge Will Mitigate Weakness in Office Building Segment

Nevertheless, it is expected that many employees will continue to work from home at least part of the time going forward, and new landscaping opportunities in office buildings will remain limited long term. Through 2025, commercial demand for landscaping products will be driven by:

• healthy growth in new construction and renovation and repair activity
• growing interest in public and commercial green spaces, including rooftop gardens, especially in urban areas
• increasing adoption of permeable pavers, which reduce excess water runoff in commercialized areas
• expansion of outdoor dining and socializing spaces by restaurant owners, hotels, and other businesses looking to capitalize on the outdoor eating trend that was accelerated by the pandemic

Want to Learn More?

Landscaping Products is now available from the Freedonia Group. This study covers the United States market for hard goods used in landscaping activities. Historical data for 2010, 2015, and 2020 and forecasts to 2025 and 2030 are provided for demand in current dollars (which are not adjusted to account for inflation) by product, market, end user, and US region.

Products:

• hardscaping products (concrete pavers, slabs, and planks; lumber; blocks; ready-mix concrete; stone tiles, slabs, and veneer; bricks; aggregates; other hardscaping products)
• outdoor structures (sheds; hobby greenhouses; gazebos and pavilions; arches, arbors, trellises, and pergolas; bridges and other outdoor structures)
• decorative landscaping products (water features; lawn ornaments; statuary; other outdoor décor)
• pots, planters, and raised beds
• landscape lighting (solar-powered, low-voltage, line-voltage and other lighting
• bird and wildlife products (feeders, houses, birds baths and other products)
• other landscaping products (heating products, synthetic turf, fabrics and accessories)

Markets are segmented by new and renovation and repair applications:

• residential
• commercial
• recreation and infrastructure (e.g., parks, golf courses, playgrounds)

End users:

• professional
• consumer/do-it-yourself