We're doing better than most...so far anyway

For $3,300 you can buy a report from Packaged Facts telling you that the lawn and garden industry is cranking along relatively well in this sick economy, especially compared to other industries. OK, so the landscape/lawn service industry is not going gang-busters like it was in the 1990s and earlier this decade. To my knowledge, nobody in the industry has yet had to slink to Washington D.C., hat in hand, begging for a handout, right?

That said, here are some interesting tidbits — read into them what you want — culled from an online article by Media Post Publications:

— the lawn and garden market now stands at $24.12 billion, a decline of -0.1% this past year.

— spending on lawn care has been dropping since 2004 when total sales rose 4.9%. the '05 sales rise was 3.6%, with 1.6% in '06 and a half of a percent in '07 and '08.

— lawn treatment services (fert/pest controls) are expected to decline 1% to 2% the next three years then rebound slightly.

The biggest positive in the article was the growth of the "organic" segment of the industry that until recently was growing at a double-digit rate. This year it's expected to post 5% growth and reach about $485 million in sales.

For a more industry-focused view of the landscape/lawn service industry, read the '09 State of the Industry report in the June issue of Landscape Management magazine, almost certainly the source for some of the data used in the $3,300 report.) — Ronnie Hall