Competing with the neighbours drives the garden product market

Experts say that the development of people’s gardens depends on how much they earn and on their rivalry with neighbours. From year to year, the garden product market expands by one third. Hobby gardening can easily turn into a costly pastime: it takes several million Forints to make a 1,000-m² garden look really good. The 1990s brought a significant change in Hungarian gardening culture: formerly people expected economic advantages from a garden, but since then gardening has become more of a hobby. Due to a change in the climate, sensitive plants are unable to cope with weather extremities. Watering is the most expensive activity. Companies that specialise in selling and installing watering systems are of the opinion that because of the climate change it has become impossible to maintain a hobby garden without irrigation.

An average size garden needs a HUF 30,000-500,000 investment to provide plants with the adequate amount of water; the simplest solution is buying a hose and a sprinkler, but there are underground pipe systems available with several types of underground or overground sprinklers. Micro-irrigation systems are perfect for balconies, in families where there are lots of plants half an hour can be spared every day by using these. Sweating pipes are also available – this system is the most economical and the most efficient, but it is good to know that one metre (which is capable of watering a 30-cm surface) costs HUF 150-180. Garden trends keep changing, evergreens seem to go out of fashion and people are now looking for plants to grow a leafy or flowery hedge. Several DIY stores sell gardening tools and their experience is that the era of plastic and concrete is over, more and more people are looking for objects made from more noble materials such as wood or clay; garden ponds and pools are also in fashion.