LawnPop artificial grass installation at a home in Austin, Texas. (Synthetic Grass Warehouse photo)
From landscape lighting to concrete pavers, products related to outdoor living areas will continue to enjoy strong demand in the coming months, according to MarketResearch.com.
Citing information from other firms’ more detailed reports, which it sells on its website, MarketResearch.com also says artificial turf is likely to “become more prevalent in some areas” of the country, particularly drought-affected regions.
In its own report, titled “House & Home: 27 Top Trends & Predictions,” MarketResearch.com notes that water-use restrictions remain in place in much of California and the Pacific Northwest. That means homeowners will seek “water-conscious landscaping options,” including xeriscapes and expanded hardscapes in addition to synthetic turf.
Also driving landscape product trends, the company says, is heightened concern about the environment.
“A variety of landscaping products are evolving to become more eco-friendly,” the report says. For example, along with the greater use of solar-powered devices, manufacturers are using more recycled materials in making their products while also ensuring the recyclability of the products themselves.
Meanwhile, “Sales of permeable pavers, which reduce water runoff by allowing rainwater to drain through the surface, are also expected to grow,” the report says.
MarketResearch.com says consumers’ retail purchases of lawn and garden equipment – a category dominated by mowers and trimmers – have been sluggish in recent years, peaking in 2005. (If fewer homeowners are doing it themselves, perhaps that’s good news for professional lawn-care companies.)
And citing a report from a company called Packaged Facts, MarketResearch.com cautions that lawn and garden equipment sales are notoriously hard to predict, as they’re subject to numerous variables – the housing market’s performance, new household formation, drought and other weather-related trends, among others.
More positive is the outlook for retail sales of herbicides and pesticides, the report says, citing research by Freedonia Group. “The increased variety of ready-to-use products, blended herbicide and fertilizer formulations, and products designed for specific types of gardens will help sustain growth in the coming years,” the market research states.
On the artificial turf front, the nation’s largest distributor, Anaheim, California-based Synthetic Grass Warehouse, continues to promote success stories about companies that have developed a specialty as installers of the product.
The most recent example is LawnPop in Austin, Texas, where owner Tanner Shepard says business is booming. In fact, he says the company has seen 100 percent annual revenue growth since he started the synthetic turf installation business in 2012.
“Synthetic grass can be a great part of design when done correctly and by those who know how,” Shepard said.
