Survey shows gardening is top outdoor activity in US
| Burlington, Vt.
Eight out of 10, or 83 percent, of American households were involved in at least one form of indoor or outdoor gardening in 1984. Gardening ranked as the No. 1 outdoor leisure activity of US households again last year, more popular than golf, jogging, biking, tennis, and swimming.
The most popular gardening activities were:
Flower gardening, with 40 million (47 percent) of all households involved; vegetable gardening, with 34 million (40 percent) participating; indoor houseplants, with 39 million households (46 percent) participating; and lawns, with 54 million (63 percent) of households involved.
These data are based on results of a nationwide poll sponsored by Gardens for All, the National Association for Gardening, a 250,000-member-supported nonprofit organization based in Burlington, Vt. The national survey is conducted annually by the Gallup Organization of Princeton, N.J.
According to the 1984-85 Gardens for All/Gallup National Gardening Survey, vegetable gardening in America's backyards and community gardens saw a slight decline in 1984 -- down from 35 million households in 1983 to 34 million, or 40 percent of households.
The incidence of households growing a small amount of vegetables and fruits in containers, border plantings, on rooftops, and on patios increased to 10 million households in 1984.
