UK Gardening Statistics 2026: 100+ sourced figures

How many UK homes have a garden?

Most UK homes have outdoor space, but access is uneven. The HTA estimates there are 22 million private gardens in the UK. The ONS found that one in eight households in Great Britain had no private or shared garden in 2020, rising to 21% in London.

The ONS figure is still the most recent official count for Great Britain. Natural England tracks garden access in England each year. In 2025/26, 9% of adults had no access to a garden or allotment, up from 8% the year before.

Related: garden design ideas for every size of plot

How many people garden in the UK, and why?

The HTA puts the number of people who enjoy gardening at 30 million. Health is a large part of the appeal. 85% of UK adults say gardens benefit their mental state, and eight in ten say they help their physical health.

Natural England data points the same way. 89% of adults who had recently visited green space agreed that time outdoors is good for their mental health.

Related: practical how-to guides

How much do UK households spend on their gardens?

UK households spent £13.2 billion on garden goods in 2023, according to Oxford Economics. They spent a further £5.8 billion on professional gardening and landscaping services.

Garden size drives spending. The HTA estimates that each extra square metre of garden brings £2.01 of spending on plants and products a year.

How big is the UK garden and horticulture industry?

Environmental horticulture and landscaping added £38.0 billion to UK GDP in 2023. That is £1 in every £71 of the economy. The figure includes garden tourism and the knock-on spending of suppliers and staff.

The direct contribution, before those knock-on effects, was £16.3 billion. Defra values UK ornamental plant production at £1.6 billion in 2025.

Related: directory of UK garden businesses

How are garden centre sales doing in 2026?

Garden centres are selling more coffee and fewer plants. In August 2026, gardening sales fell 7% by value on August 2025, while café sales rose 10%. Gardening made up about half of sales, down from 59% in June.

The heat and hosepipe bans hit plants hardest. Hardy plants, shrubs and trees fell 14% and bedding plants fell 11%. Seeds rose 6%.

Related: what to buy at the garden centre each season

How hot and dry was summer 2026 for UK gardens?

Summer 2026 was the UK's hottest on record. The mean temperature was 16.5°C, beating the record set only a year earlier. England had just 64% of its usual summer rain and Wales had 59%.

The peak was 38.2°C at Hartpury College on 13 August. July was England's driest on record.

Related: how to water in hot weather

Which areas have hosepipe bans and drought in 2026?

Ten water companies in England had hosepipe bans in force in mid-October 2026. The Environment Agency puts the number of people affected at around 30 million. Eleven of its 14 areas are in drought, and four have parts in severe drought.

Reservoirs in England were 54% full in mid-October, about 21% below normal for the time of year. The National Drought Group says 120% of typical rainfall is needed over the next seven months for every area to leave drought.

Hosepipe bans by water company, 2026

Start dates and customer numbers come from company notices, compiled by Water Industry Hub (October 2026). Company areas overlap, so the customer numbers should not be added together. The Environment Agency's figure of about 30 million is the better total. Welsh Water's ban, covering about 33,000 properties, was lifted on 4 September 2026.

Related: gardening during a hosepipe ban · how to bring a lawn back after drought

How long are allotment waiting lists in the UK?

There is no official national count of allotment waiting lists. Freedom of information studies fill the gap. Greenpeace-backed research found 174,183 people waiting across England, Scotland and Wales in 2023, almost double the 2011 level.

Most waits run from 18 months to 4 years, depending on where you live and local demand. In APSE's 2025 survey of councils, 63% reported waits of more than 18 months. A 2025 FOI study of 175 councils put the average at about four years, with Haringey and West Dunbartonshire longest at nine years.

Related: find an allotment near you · allotments for beginners

How much fruit and veg does the UK grow?

UK growers produced 2.6 million tonnes of vegetables in 2025, worth £2.1 billion. That covered 56% of the vegetables the country uses. Fruit is a different story: home production met only 14% of supply.

These are commercial figures. They show how much of a typical shopping basket a home grower could replace.

Related: grow your own vegetables

How are garden birds and wildlife doing?

Gardens are a major wildlife survey site. 650,279 people counted more than 9 million birds in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch 2026. The house sparrow kept the top spot. The greenfinch fell to 18th and is now on the UK Red List.

About a third of English adults with outdoor space do something to help wildlife. Almost all of them feed birds.

Related: wildlife gardening guides · what to feed garden birds each season

What happened to the peat ban for gardeners?

The UK Government said in 2022 that it would ban retail sales of peat for amateur gardeners by 2024. That deadline passed with no law in any of the four UK nations. 95.5% of people who answered Defra's 2021 consultation backed a retail ban.

Peat use has fallen slowly. UK growing media contained 2.76 million cubic metres of peat in 2011 and 2.06 million in 2019, a drop of about 25%.

Related: how to choose and use peat-free compost

What could change for UK gardeners in 2027?

Water is the biggest open question. The Environment Agency expects Devon and Cornwall and East Anglia to still be in drought in April 2027 even under its most likely scenario. There is about a one in four chance that half of England will be (National Drought Group, 16 Sep 2026).

Peat is the second. The retail ban promised for 2024 has not become law, so peat-free compost remains a choice rather than a rule in all four nations. Yellow-legged hornets are the third. The National Bee Unit logged 226 credible sightings and 85 nests by mid-October 2026, against 544 sightings and 161 nests in the whole of 2025.

Frequently asked questions

How we compiled these figures

• Primary sources first. We used official statistics wherever they exist, then trade bodies, charities and FOI studies where they do not. Each row names its source and publication date.
• Like with like. Some figures cover the UK, some Great Britain and some England only. The label says which.
• Known gaps. The ONS garden-access figures date from 2020 and are the latest official GB count. There is no official national series for allotment waiting lists. The HTA Value of Gardens report does not publish its method.
• Our own data. The allotment site table uses Garden UK's verified finder data. See the allotment data report for how sites were checked.
• Updates. Hosepipe ban and drought figures change weekly and are shown as at mid-October 2026. The whole page is reviewed each year. Next full review: October 2027.

Citing this page: "UK Gardening Statistics 2026", Garden UK, 2026-10-21, https://gardenuk.co.uk/uk-gardening-statistics/. Graphics and tables may be reused with a link to this page or to gardenuk.co.uk. Spotted an error or a newer figure? Email editor@gardenuk.co.uk.

Sources