Irish Garden designer Diarmuid Gavin and the Chelsea Flower Show

House and Garden News

Britain's New Gardeners

LONDON, May 25 2006

- Britain has a new breed of gardener - stylish, thirtysomethings who believe the garden is the new living room

Britain has a new breed of gardener according to Gardenlife, the brand new, glossy lifestyle magazine launching tomorrow.

With crowds four deep at the Chelsea Flower Show, a GBP4.45billion(1) gardening market and a national fascination for home makeovers, gardening is undergoing a renaissance as Brits clamour to design and decorate their gardens with the same flourish as their living rooms.

Alongside the pottering plant lovers, is a new generation of sophisticated garden afficionados termed, "lifestyle gardeners", who use their gardens as an extension of their homes, for entertaining and relaxing. The lifestyle gardener is 30plus with an eye for the latest home and leisure trends. Mintel estimates that there are over 4.113m lifestyle gardeners in the UK.

"The garden has become the new living room," says Paula McWaters, Editor of Gardenlife. "We are all starting to use our gardens more and more, whether we are entertaining or just relaxing with family and friends.

According to recent NOP(2) research, 85% of people now have their own garden and Mintel(3) claims that consumer confidence, growth in house prices, climate change(3) and media makeover shows have fuelled the passion for all things green.

In the first issue, Gardenlife contributor Alan Titchmarsh identifies six categories of gardener.

Back to nature brigade

Fanatically organic, the back to nature brigade love wild and woolly gardens, brimming with wildlife.

So-sociables

Any occasion is an excuse for a party. Their gardens are filled with the latest accessories, barbecues, hot tubs and outdoor sound systems.

Junior Joneses

The trendy ones who think gardening is sexy. Right now, their patio is a sea of stainless steel.

Formal Folk

Are naturally neat and tidy with everything in boxes, divided into garden rooms and all terribly tasteful.

Passionate Gardeners

These are the real enthusiasts whose overfilled greenhouses are packed with recycled yoghurt pots.

Happy families

Whose garden is an outdoor romper room for the growing brood. Often shambolic with a balding lawn and littered with plastic play things.

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