Why British People Are So Obsessed With Their Gardens (And What It Says About Us)
People Are So Obsessed With Their Gardens
It Is the Most Democratically Enjoyed Pastime in Britain
The Garden Room Industry Tells Its Own Story
It Is Disproportionately Therapeutic After Bereavement
Wildlife Gardening Has Grown Sharply Since 2020
The Neighbour's Garden Matters Too
Gardens Are a Way of Marking Time
It Is One of the Few Hobbies That Improves With Age
It Is a Form of Mental Health Care That Predates the Concept
The RHS Has 600,000 Members
Weather Makes It More Meaningful, Not Less
The Garden Is the Only Outdoor Space Many People Own
It Started With the Allotment Movement, Not the Country House
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The United Kingdom has more private gardens per capita than almost any other country in Europe, an estimated 27 million of them covering an area larger than all the country's national nature reserves combined.The Horticultural Trades Association estimates that spending on the average garden has increased each year since 2020, to £560 per year. This is not a hobby. For a significant portion of the British population, it is a primary relationship with the natural world, with private space, and with the quiet passage of time. Here is what it actually means.