• by Karl Greenberg , August 26, 2015

California might be returning to cacti, sand and sidewinders, but for the part of the country that still gets rain, consumers who are into lawns and gardens are starting to think as much about what they are putting on their lawns as what they put in their bodies. 

A new study from Packaged Facts asserts that consumers are more frequently demanding safer, healthier and more sustainable products for their private patch of terra firma. 

And per the firm, that demand has increased competition in the U.S. lawn and garden supplies market. The small, regional players in the natural lawn care business may face a turf battle as big manufacturers of lawn care products catch on to the business. The report says the big players are “Extending into the organic or natural market by launching new brands, introducing new products, or making acquisitions.” 

The publisher sees overall retail sales of the lawn and garden supplies market (encompassing fertilizers, growth media, grass seed and pesticides) at $6 billion when numbers are tallied for last year. Of that, sales of natural and organic lawn and garden supplies were $475 million, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 4.4% since 2010, per the report, entitled Lawn and Garden Supplies in the U.S., 10th Edition.

While natural and organic products for lawns is a sector, it is still just 8% of overall lawn and garden supplies sales, per David Sprinkle, research director, Packaged Facts. “The majority of [organic, sustainable] sales come from fertilizers and growth media products, with faster growth coming from pesticides, especially those related to edible gardening,” he said, in the report. He said natural and organic product sales growth is being driven, in part, by increased interest in edible gardening, a passion of younger consumers, who want to grow their own because they are concerned about stealth chemical products in big agra food.

According to the Packaged Facts 2015 survey data featured in the report, 13% of adults purchased any organic lawn or garden supplies within the last 12 months. Of those who purchased organic supplies, over 40% bought organic mulch, insecticide or lawn fertilizer. About 40% purchased organic plant food, with 35% buying organic weed killer. Just under 30% of adults said they bought organic soil.