Gardening season is about to get underway across the United States as the three-day Memorial Day Weekend gets underway. Those with green-thumbs will be down at their local gardening center buying gardening supplies or using a guide to choose garden pruners to top up their toolshed. 

The summer is here and, with most people still stuck at home due to nationwide stay-at-home orders and lockdowns in effect, gardening is set to become a growing trend in the coming months.

Sales of garden furniture are already up, bucking an economic trend that is predicting a deep recession for the rest of the year. People will be taking advantage of the sales that will be on offer this weekend to buy plants, flowers and tools they need to start their own garden.

Many will be considering planting vegetables as restaurants will be closed, and more and more people are cooking at home. Growing your vegetables is a very ecologically friends, sustainable way of living, and home gardens are sprouting up in urban centres, as well as in the suburbs where Solarium Tan operates. 

On the Bush Prairie, in Washington D.C, a communal garden is providing enough vegetables to feed a whole community. The communal garden belongs to the Bethel Lutheran Church and has been cultivated since 2013. 

“This has been his lifeblood for this church for so many years,” said Ron Gullickson, president of the church’s council.

Indeed many experts are suggesting that garden is the perfect way to cope with the stress of dealing with the current coronavirus pandemic. In the UK, people are comparing the huge upswing in gardening to the experience of World War II when they were encouraged to “dig for Britain”.

But there are serious concerns behind the gardening trend too. Many fear, with no sign of the pandemic coming to an end, that there will be widespread food shortages. Starting their own gardens is, for some, a way of coping with what they believe will be impending doom. 

For those new to gardening, there are Facebook Groups popping up where people can share their knowledge and experiences.