Gardening: Cuttings

'IT IS the spirit of the age to believe that any fact, no matter how suspect, is superior to any imaginative exercise, no matter how true.' - Gore Vidal

1 Eighty-eight per cent of gardens include a lawn, 67 per cent have a greenhouse, 60 per cent have a patio, 59 per cent have garden furniture, 55 per cent have a shed, 50 per cent have a bird table or bird bath, 21 per cent have a conservatory, 17 per cent have a barbecue.

2 Eighty-three per cent of gardeners grow shrubs in their garden, 61 per cent grow vegetables, 58 per cent grow herbs, 48 per cent grow soft fruit, 32 per cent grow wild flowers.

3 Eighty-five per cent of people in Ireland have gardens, 84 per cent in Britain, 80 per cent in Belgium, 72 per cent in the Netherlands, 71 per cent in Luxembourg, 70 per cent in Norway, 68 per cent in Denmark, 57 per cent in Sweden, 54 per cent in France, 53 per cent in Austria, 40 per cent in Finland, 36 per cent in Italy.

4 In the Midlands, 90.6 per cent of people have gardens, 90.1 per cent have them in the South of England, 89.2 per cent in the East, 88.7 per cent in the South-west, 87.9 in Wales, 86.8 per cent in Yorkshire, 84.3 per cent in the Border counties, 83.1 per cent in London, 82.5 per cent in the North- west, 82.4 per cent in north-east Scotland, 79.8 per cent in the North-east, 77.8 per cent in central Scotland.

5 People living in the South-east and East Anglia spend an average of 2.46 hours a week gardening, people living in the Midlands spend 2.07 hours, those in Wales and the South- west 2.05 hours, those in London 1.95 hours, in Scotland 1.67 hours, in the North 1.09 hours.

6 Weeding is the least favourite job in the garden, followed by sweeping up leaves, mowing the lawn, digging, hedge-cutting, watering, planting, deadheading and pruning.

7 According to Mr Fothergill's, the seed company, pansies are the most popular flower seeds bought by women, followed by geraniums, lobelia, impatiens, petunia, marigold, sweet pea, nasturtium and alyssum.

Sources: Mr Fothergill's Seeds, Reader's Digest, Eurodata, BMRB Target Group Index, Henley Centre for Forecasting, Gallup.