A CSO Frontier Series Output- What is this?
This release has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this release reflect some of the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation. For further information see Background Notes.
In this section, we asked the respondents if they had access to a garden (private or shared). We were interested in the time they spent and the activities they carried out in their gardens. Finally, we also explored how gardening activities changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether participants had access to a garden or not (e.g. balcony, patio, yard, etc.).
Almost all respondents (98%) had access to a private or shared outdoor space, whether it was a garden (93%) or not, such as a balcony, a patio, or a yard (5%). A minority of participants (2%) didn't have access to any private or shared outdoor spaces (Figure 5.1 and Table 5.1). Almost all of the respondents having access to an outdoor space reported that it was private (97% for gardens, and 96% for outdoor spaces that are not gardens; Table 5.1).
| Percentage | |
| Garden | 93 |
| Outdoor space that is not a garden | 5 |
| No access to an outdoor space | 2 |
Almost one in two respondents (47%) with access to a garden (private or shared) reported spending time in it daily over the past 6 months. Over four in ten participants (41%) reported spending time in their garden weekly (30%) or several times a month (11%). Less than 10% of respondents said they used their garden once (3%) or less than once a month (6%; Figure 5.2 and Table 5.2).
| Frequency | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Daily | 47 |
| Weekly | 30 |
| Several times a month | 11 |
| Once a month | 3 |
| Less than once a month | 6 |
| Never | 3 |
More than seven in ten respondents (71%) with access to a garden tended to spend time in their outdoor space to do gardening or maintenance. The three other main reasons for spending time outdoors in a garden were 'To get fresh air' (59%), 'To take a break' (47%), and 'For mental health and well-being' (45%; Figure 5.3 and Table 5.3).
| Reasons | Percentage |
|---|---|
| To do gardening / maintenance | 71 |
| To get fresh air | 59 |
| To take a break (e.g. from home, from work etc.) | 47 |
| For mental health and well-being | 45 |
| To take a pet out (e.g. dog, cat, etc.) | 29 |
| To connect with nature / observe wildlife | 26 |
| For physical health and exercise | 19 |
| To look after children / other family members | 16 |
| To meet other people (e.g. friends, family etc.) | 12 |
| Because I was advised to spend time outdoors for health reasons | 1 |
| Other / Don't know / Prefer not to say | 4 |
In order to examine changes in gardening behaviours prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and now, respondents were asked about a range of gardening activities:
Among the gardening activities proposed in this survey, almost 60% of the respondents with access to a private or shared outdoor space (e.g., garden, balcony, patio, yard, etc.) reported that they provided food for wild animals before the COVID-19 pandemic and are still doing it. Almost 50% of the participants also stated that they were planting and / or maintaining bee-friendly plants before the COVID-19 pandemic and are still doing it. The most popular activities taken up during the COVID-19 pandemic were 'Planting and / or maintaining bee-friendly plants' (18%) and 'Growing your own vegetables / fruits' (13%; Figure 5.4 and Table 5.4).
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one in three participants (34%) with access to a private or shared outdoor space reported having taken up at least one new gardening activity among those proposed in this survey. A minority of participants (7%) stated that they stopped at least one of these activities during the restrictions (Table 5.5). The majority of respondents didn't report any change in their gardening behaviour in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic with almost 75% of the participants reporting that they were doing at least one of these activities before the COVID-19 pandemic and are still doing it (Table 5.5).
| Reasons | Not applicable / Not stated | I wasn't doing this before COVID-19 and I am still not doing it | I was doing this before COVID-19 but I stopped doing it during the restrictions | I wasn't doing this before COVID-19 but I started doing it during the restrictions | I was doing this before COVID-19 and I am still doing it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planting and / or maintaining bee-friendly plants | 9 | 23 | 2 | 18 | 49 |
| Adding log piles or other material that can be used by wildlfe | 18 | 48 | 1 | 8 | 24 |
| Growing your own vegetables / fruits | 15 | 42 | 3 | 13 | 27 |
| Providing food for wild animals | 8 | 24 | 3 | 8 | 58 |
| Using a water butt to water your own garden | 17 | 51 | 1 | 4 | 26 |
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