Everything’s gone green since the lockdown, as Brits create major revival for houseplants

Brits are creating a huge revival for houseplants and green foliage in general – a direct result of the lockdown and the extra time the nation spent indoors. In the last few years, increasing numbers of shoppers have been on a mission to bring the great indoors into their homes by literally decorating their homes with soothing colors such as green foliage. The trend, a nod to the 70s interior design style, has seen demand for house plants soar by more than 130 percent at Tesco since 2019.

Tesco Plants Buyer Vicki l'Anson said: "We first noticed the trend during the early months of lockdown, and it was caused as a direct result of people having to stay at home and not being able to visit parks and other open spaces."

"But the trend caught on very quickly with people keen to show off on social media how they were adorning their homes with houseplants. And it's now even more pronounced than it was then."

"Importantly, it's also good news for our partnerships with UK growers, as we've been working together to meet the increased demand with brilliant British-grown plants."
The trend is having a positive effect on UK plant growers, who are increasing production to meet the soaring demand.

Bury Lane – a major UK, peat-free grower based near Royston, in Hertfordshire, who had been mainly dealing in cut flowers, such as lilies, peonies, and agapanthus – completely switched its indoor production facilities to just producing house plants. It now produces more than 500,000 a year.

The company's subsidiary, Geb & Green, last year won a Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show and the Best House Plant Studio award.

Will Clayton, Managing Director of Bury Lane, said that helping drive the boom was the current interest in helping the environment, especially from younger people who are keen on building indoor gardens.

Will said: "The big consumer focus in home plants right now is the leaf rather than the flower, with younger people, especially, being interested in building their own indoor gardens with evergreen plants."

"Not everyone has an outdoor garden and with interest rates high right now we're seeing younger people who are waiting to get on the housing ladder wanting to make their accommodation as appealing and interesting as possible."

"One easy and inexpensive way to do that is by having calming houseplants around your home and if you go on social media sites you'll find many people posting the latest additions to their home."