Britons spend £123 a year and an average of two days a month on their gardens – but then hardly use them, according to a new survey by discount retailer Poundstretcher.

The news might give added point to the current HTA-driven Love the Plot You’ve Got campaign, which aims to encourage 25-45-year-olds to make better use of their outdoor spaces.

Poundstretcher, which operates more than 400 stores and stocks 1,000-plus garden products,  estimates we spend barely an hour a day in our gardens…and that’s only if the weather’s fine. More than 10% don’t spend any time out there.

Poundstretcher MD Ian York, a keen gardener himself, said: “We were sad to find out that despite the nation spending £3.3 billion a year on their gardens, people still aren’t using them.”

Nearly a quarter of all people surveyed said they used their garden as somewhere to dump unwanted possessions or as a spaced for their rubbish bins. Glaswegians, apparently, are the most likely to use gardens their gardens as tips

Parties and barbecues in the garden are enjoyed by 53%, and sunbathing by 50%. It seems you’re most likely to find the sunbathers in Newcastle…

Some 10% of people have never weeded their garden, 13% have never cut the grass, 15% have never sown seeds and 22% have never potted containers or watered garden plants, the survey reports.

Above: products on the Poundstretcher website.