Peterborough-area businesses see popularity of gardening grow during COVID-19 pandemic

With people sticking closer to home and many with more time on their hands, Peterborough-area businesses say more people are turning to gardening to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think gardening is going to be the thing,” said Roger Hill, owner of Hill’s Florist & Greenhouses in Lindsay, Ont. “We are limited in where we can go so this might be the year to fix up that garden, work on the house this year, and people have something they haven’t had in a long time, and that is time.”

Hill said gardening also has benefits for mental health.

“I’ve had so many people say, ‘You don’t know how much I need this,'” said Hill. “It’s getting out, it’s seeing some colour, it’s seeing some life.”

And garden centres seem to be full of life, with people eager to get growing. Hill said his business is taking proper precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including only allowing a certain number of people inside at any given time, sanitizing regularly and maintaining physical-distancing rules.

Meanwhile, Hill said he has seen an increase in the number of people looking to plant vegetables this year.

“People are really keen to get a vegetable garden in,” he said. “A lot of people haven’t done this before, and I find that so enjoyable.”

A Peterborough-based company that produces biodegradable planters has also noticed an uptick in production and that more people seem eager to grow their own food.

Joao Borges is a team member with Paper Planet Project, a business created through Enactus Fleming College.

He said the business’s products are typically used in classrooms, but the company has shifted to home use during the pandemic.

“We deliver seed starter kits right to your door,” he said. “Our hope is that parents can use them with their kids to offer experiential learning while isolated at home.”