Survey of gardening habits reveals we do love a weed-free lawn!

A survey of over 350 households carried out by Nature Safe, the 100% natural, organic and sustainable garden care brand from Galway, reveals that only 9% said that they were very satisfied with their lawn’s appearance.

Whilst 81% of us say that we enjoy looking after our lawns, 40% of respondents are dissatisfied with the appearance of their lawn and 49% describing themselves as only ‘quite satisfied’. The biggest aesthetic problems according to respondents were weeds (44%), moss (22%), maintaining a healthy green colour (19%) long/unruly grass (9%) and uneven patches (6%).

Hygeia Group, which has been manufacturing garden care, agricultural and veterinary products in Galway for over 80 years, carried out the research to celebrate the extension of its popular ‘Nature Safe’ range to include lawn care specific products and a wider range of outdoor products to tackle all your gardening needs.

Other interesting findings from the survey were:

Asked why they thought their lawn did not look good, 30% attributed it to lack of maintenance/ gardening skills, followed by lack of water (17%), lack of food (15%), pets (13%), whilst 25% simply didn’t know what the cause was.

Just over half of the respondents (51%) will mow their lawn once a week though-out the summer, followed by 37% who are happy to mow fortnightly, 5% twice a week, 5% once a month and 3% who’ll mow less than once a month.

Electric mowers (53%) and push mowers (45%) still the most popular choice with only 2% using robot mowers

Regarding budget for their lawn care, the majority 38% of people spend up to €50 annually, while 29% spend between €50 – €100, 19% spend €100 – €200 and 13% over €200.

Only 5% of respondents had artificial grass in their gardens and when it comes to decorative features around the lawn area, flowers was a clear leader (83%) followed by gnomes/ statues (24%) and water features (16%).

40% of people prioritise organic and sustainable attributes when buying products to care for their lawns, topped only by price (44%)

Nature Safe, launched in 2019 with 4 products and has now expanded to 20. The range of natural, organic and sustainable garden care products includes plant feeds, natural pest repellants and indoor plant feeds. All products in the Nature Safe range are plant-based and organic, making them completely safe for children, pets, pollinators and wildlife.

New Nature Safe products:

The latest additions to the range are specifically designed to promote vibrant healthy lawns and include:

Nature Safe Lawn Feed, 1L – this liquid feed is enriched with Seaweed and Chitin to boost resilience and promote a healthier, green lawn.

Nature Safe Lawn Feed, 2kg – Plant based organic fertiliser that strengthens & greens lawns.

Nature Safe Lawn Feed & Seed, 10kg – Mix of organic fertiliser & lawn seed to promote a healthy eco-system for your lawn.

Nature Safe Slug & Snail Barrier – Organic barrier made from oyster shells to deter slugs and snails naturally.

One of the most prominent ingredients featured in the Nature Safe range is wild Atlantic Seaweed. Hand-harvested on the local Connemara shoreline in Galway, which ensures there is complete regrowth every 3 years, making it the most sustainable option for Nature Safe, using nature to nurture nature, enriching the soil and the plants that we grow and eat with seaweed’s natural micronutrients.

John Byrne, CEO of Hygeia commented:  “Our Nature Safe range is specifically designed to meet growing consumer demand for natural and sustainable garden care products. Most of our gardens have an element of lawn and we all want that space to look as healthy and vibrant as possible. Lawns can be challenging to maintain and we’re delighted to extend our Nature Safe range to provide the sustainable, natural micronutrient power of seaweed to this important area of our homes. With gardening season now upon us, it’s time to shop those products that are great for your garden but that are also kind to nature.”

Nature Safe’s range of products are available at all leading garden centres and homestores nationwide. Learn more at www.hygeia.ie or on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.