Interest in gardening grows during coronavirus pandemic

With more time at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, Avalon’s Sarah Pope has turned to gardening to pass the time and provide a temporary distraction.

Pope began planting a new vegetable garden two weeks ago to grow dill, basil, Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers for pickling. Last week, she hunted for flowers for her front porch.

“I normally wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t have longer stretches of free time,” said Pope, 37, an oncology radiation nurse who was shopping Wednesday for flowers at Brenckle’s Greenhouses in Reserve.

Pope isn’t alone.

Local nurseries and gardening experts report a bumper crop of new gardeners buying everything from soil and seeds to vegetable plants and flowers.

The Bucks County-based Burpee Seed Co., which calls itself the nation’s largest seed company, has seen a doubling of monthly sales over last year, according to company Chairman George Ball.

Ball said the boom in seed sales this spring is the largest spike he’s seen during his 30-plus years with the company. When mid-March hit and stay-at-home orders began taking effect across the country, Ball said, “We were running real hot.”

“It didn’t take long for cabin fever to become gardening fever,” Ball said.

Ball said Burpee keeps a surplus on hand and has been able to fill its orders, but some seed companies have had to halt shipping because overwhelming demand has depleted their supplies.

Local nurseries that have remained open have been brimming with customers looking for flowers, vegetables, shrubbery and more.

Garden centers, which sell plants but don’t grow them, have been shuttered since Gov. Tom Wolf deemed them non-life-sustaining businesses.

A bill that would allow local lawn and garden centers to reopen passed the state House last week and went to the Senate for consideration. The legislation would require the businesses to put a range of safeguards in place.

“I know our local lawn and garden businesses have been hurting since the pandemic began, and the business closure affecting them couldn’t have come at a worse time, with prime gardening season approaching,” said state Rep. Joe Petrarca, D-Washington Township.

When asked during a news conference last week whether he would sign the bill into law, Wolf simply replied, “No.”

Community gardens throughout the region are operating but with restrictions including social distancing and limits on the number of people allowed in the garden at the same time.

“If there is a group, we would like them to wear their masks,” said Latrobe’s Mike Sherback, one of the organizers of the Latrobe Community Vegetable Gardens.

Local residents are expected to plant their favorite vegetables in all 33 available plots, according to Sherback.

With the safe, post-frost planting date expected to be around May 10, the rush is on now to buy flowers and vegetable plants.

At Arona Road Greenhouse in Hempfield, vegetables and herbs are selling briskly and earlier than usual, co-owner Sarah O’Hern said.

“We have new gardeners that have a lot of questions about gardening,” she said.

The most common question, she said: “Can I plant now?”

All of Arona’s cold crops, such as lettuce, are ready to go. But for tomatoes and peppers, O’Hern is advising customers to wait until after frost warnings around Mother’s Day, May 10.

There has been a 20% increase in customers this spring at Brenckle’s Greenhouses, which has been in business for 99 years, said Ashley Brenckle, who is among the fourth generation of the family-owned business.

“We’re seeing a lot of new gardeners and people excited to start their own gardens,” she said.

Hot sellers including herbs, tomatoes, peppers and “the annuals are flying out the door — and, of course, (so are) geraniums, which we specialize in,” Brenckle said. Many customers also are buying Brenckle’s custom growing mix, a lightweight soil mix for growing and container gardens, she said.

Michael Brothers Nurseries in West Deer also has seen an increase in sales, as well as an increase in staff time needed to prepare orders for customers.

Company President Dan Higgins said he and his staff have been working nonstop taking orders by telephone and loading customers’ cars.

“People are looking to work in their gardens and to landscape their yards as they stay at home,” Higgins said.

The Penn State Extension master gardeners program is working to address the increased interest in gardening this year, offering the free webinar “Victory Garden Reinvented.”

Millions of Victory Gardens were planted during World War I and World War II. They helped provide food for families at a time when traditional food production had fallen, and home gardening was viewed by many to be a patriotic duty.

Instructional videos on planting and plants were released a few weeks ago, and already 2,600 people have signed up for them, according to Mandy Smith, master gardener coordinator for Penn State Extension in Westmoreland County.

“There is a great deal of interest,” she said.

In addition to people looking for ways to spend their increased time at home, Smith said the pandemic has “made us question our food supply, and we are looking for more sustainable ways to access food.”