Despite the mini-recession precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a few select industries actually thrived. In particular, for the green industry — plant nurseries, garden centers, and landscaping companies — business boomed. Now, as life returns to normal in many locales, the industry is wondering whether gardening is simply another pandemic fad, like bread-baking — or if Americans all emerged from Covid with permanently green thumbs.
Alas, new research from the University of Georgia hints that the "doomsday garden" may have been a fad. An online survey from the university's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics found that one out of three people started a garden in 2020, but a return to normal consumer behavior is likely as pandemic restrictions dissipate.
