Surrey gardeners have the greenest fingers

People in the South East have the greenest fingers in the UK, spending the highest amount of money on visits to garden and DIY stores, according to research by Barclays Insurance.

This Saturday will be the busiest day of the year for the country’s amateur gardeners, handymen and home improvers with over 1.2 million people expected to visit their local DIY or garden store, a 50 per cent increase from the average number of shoppers on a normal Saturday. Over £50 million is expected to be spent as gardeners are inspired by the Chelsea Flower Show and the prospect of a long weekend with, hopefully, some fine weather.

The research from Barclays Insurance reveals that residents of South West Surrey, covering towns such as Farnham and Godalming, spend the most on their gardens (Over £350 per capita per year, see table in notes for editors). Other top garden spending areas are North East Hampshire, Mole Valley, Surrey Heath and Tonbridge and Malling. Outside of the South East, Somerset and Frome and Tiverton and also see large sums spent on gardens and home improvements.

Londoners spend the least on their home and garden and make the fewest visits to garden and DIY centres, perhaps unsurprising given the shortage of green space in the capital. However outside of London, Yorkshire and the North East are the two regions which spend the least on with less than £180 a year spent on DIY and gardens in these areas.

Mark Till, Barclays Insurance marketing director, says: "Our research shows that we spend a huge amount of time and money on our gardens and homes each year but many people never think of insuring their gardens even though they may have thousands of pounds worth of plants, garden furniture and garden tools.

"Many policies cover basic levels of insurance but you can always add further garden insurance to your schedule to make sure you are fully covered in case of accidents and theft – after all your teak garden furniture probably costs more than your nice leather sofa.".


Source tables for Barclays General Insurance DIY spending patterns


For further information contact:

Andrew McDougall, 0207 116 6159,

Barclays Bank Insurance