Washington, D.C.—In his speech before industry dignitaries attending the kick-off of National Garden Month, American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) Executive Vice President Robert J. Dolibois, CAE, had high praise for the value of plants.

In his remarks, Dolibois noted the true power of gardening. For example, 85 million households in America garden; landscaping adds value of up to 15 percent to homes; trees cut heating and cooling costs by as much as 50 percent; and gardens and trees have been noted by the medical community to help patients recovery faster from illness and surgery.

Adrian Higgins, staff writer for The Washington Post picked up on Dolibois’ remarks in a syndicated column titled Going for the Green, which ran in the Post on Thursday, April 10. In his article, Higgins quoted Dolibois commenting on the dramatic increase over the past five years in consumer spending on professional garden construction and landscape installation, which jumped from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $11.2 billion in 2002.

“This is really significant,” said Dolibois, who attributed the growth to several factors, including short-term reality of a continued strong housing market and the long-term shift in American attitudes toward outdoor spaces. “We are seeing the outdoor living room taking on a much more sophisticated tone, in part because of privacy needs.”

So far, the article has been reprinted in a number of newspapers across the country, including the Atlanta Constitution and Journal. In a post to ANLAConnect, Susan McCoy at Garden Media Group, Chadds Ford, Pa., said, 'Bob was one of the keynote speakers at the kick off of National Garden Month at the U.S. Botanic Gardens in Washington. His talk was brilliant—what would the world be like without plants and flowers. Adrian’s column could easily pop up in 40 daily newspapers. Everyone be on the watch out.'

In other industry news…

The National Gardening Association Releases Its 2002 Gardening Survey.

The results are as follows:

Household Participation in Lawn and Garden Activities: Eight out of 10 U.S. households (79 percent) or 85 million households participated in one or more types of

do-it-yourself indoor and outdoor lawn and garden activities in 2002. This is the same number seen in 2001 and equal to the highest level of participation seen in the past 5 years.

Annual Spending on Lawn and Garden Activities: Consumers spent an average of $466 per household on their lawns and gardens in 2002. Over the past 5 years, average annual spending has grown by about 4 percent per year and averaged $452.

Total Lawn and Garden Retail Sales: Consumers spent a total of $39.6 billion on their lawns and gardens in 2002, an increase of $1.9 billion or 5 percent over 2001. Over the past 5 years, total lawn and garden sales have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 8 percent. From 1997-2002 lawn and garden sales increased from $26.6 billion in 1997 to $39.6 billion in 2002.

Lawn and Garden Consumer Demographics: The most important consumers of lawn and garden products last year were men, people 35-44 years of age or 55 and older, college graduates, households in the Northeast, South and West, married households,

2-person households, and households with annual incomes more than $75,000.

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ANLA, a Washington, DC–based trade assocation, represents more than 2,300 firms that grow, sell and use landscape plants. ANLA advocates the industry’s interests before government, and provides its members with unique business knowledge essential to long-term growth and profitability.