Recent results from a survey commissioned by the Common Sense Gardening Group and conducted by Yolo Communications has revealed that 43% of gardeners say they use garden care chemicals to control weeds.

In fact, 17% of gardeners agree that garden care chemicals are the only successful solution to manage weeds.

Organic alternatives don’t have the same impact, as 41% say they needed a faster impact on problem areas. Unfortunately, organic options don’t provide the instant gratification that many gardeners are after. 

Other findings from the survey show that 20% people don’t have time to weed their lawn by hand, and 31% of people say they find weeding their driveways by hand too difficult.

Gary Philpotts, chair of Common Sense Gardening Group, says: “Our findings reinforce an industry-held ideal: that gardeners need to have a wide spread of options to help them tackle their daily weed regrowth issues.”

For 14% of gardeners, the cost of garden care products is not important if it solves the problem.

The Common Sense Gardening Group is an alliance of five companies involved in garden care products – whether that’s manufacture or just sale – and works with the Royal Horticultural Society to endorse its ethos and champion the growing concerns associated with consumer gardening. It is part of the Crop Protection Association, an integral player in the UK plant science industry.

The group works to ensure the safety of garden care products and provide consumers with tips on the safe usage, storage and disposal of garden products.

Research carried out by the European Crop Protection Association, revealed that:

• • Gardeners need suitable and strong solutions to weed, pest and disease problems; ones that aren’t time-consuming to implement. 
• • Home and garden products can provide cost-effective control for challenging weed species, including invasive ones. They tend to be relatively affordable compared to some of the alternatives.
• • Hand weeding, although practical in some situations, is too time-consuming and is not always effective as roots and parts of weed species are left to re-grow.