Lawn and Garden Care Statistics
Published September 15, 2026 · StatsGalore
Average time among people doing lawn or garden care that day [1]
Lawn and garden care averaged 0.19 hours per day across people age 15 and older in 2025. Among the 10.0% who reported doing it on their diary day, however, the average was 1.90 hours. The difference illustrates why occasional activities need more than a single headline average. [1]
The numbers
| Group | Hours across everyone | Daily participation | Hours among participants | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All people age 15+ | 0.19 | 10.0% | 1.90 | [1] |
| Men | 0.26 | 11.2% | 2.29 | [1] |
| Women | 0.13 | 8.9% | 1.43 | [1] |
A task that is not done every day
The all-person average spreads recorded lawn and garden time over everyone in the survey, including people without a yard and people who did no outdoor work that day. It is useful for measuring society-wide time allocation, but it does not describe the length of a typical gardening session.
The participant average gives a different view. It counts only diary days that included the activity. Neither average reveals how frequently a particular person returns to the garden over a season.
[1]Seasonality is part of the annual average
An annual estimate combines diary days throughout the year. Lawn and garden work can be concentrated in particular seasons, and climate differs across the country. A national annual mean should not be used as a weekly maintenance schedule for a specific location.
The measure also describes time, not the area maintained, the number of plants grown, or the amount spent on landscaping. A long session can involve many different kinds of work.
[1]Reading the comparisons
Men recorded a higher participation rate and a longer duration among participants than women in this table. Those two measures combine to produce a higher population-average amount of time.
The comparisons are descriptive. They do not isolate homeownership, age, household arrangements, climate, or the type of outdoor work. Explaining the difference requires more information than the national totals provide.
[1]Keeping related categories separate
Lawn and garden care is one component of household activities. Adding its time to the full household-activities total would count that component twice. Comparisons with housework and cooking should use the same table column and population.
These figures are best used to explain how an occasional activity can occupy substantial time on days when it happens. They should not be converted into a claim that everyone gardens for the national average amount each day.
[1]Sources & notes
BLS ATUS Table 1, 2025. Annual averages include all days and people age 15 and older. Participant duration is conditional on reporting the activity that day.
The 2025 ATUS did not collect diaries for September 30–November 11 during the federal shutdown. Under the existing weighting method, later fourth-quarter diaries represent the missing days as well. See the BLS collection notice before making year-to-year comparisons.
Source review: 2026-09-15. Article publication and underlying data dates are separate. How we use statistics · Suggest a correction