Gardening Australia takes over the backyard Camille Alarcon
With a brand ambassador like Peter Cundall, who readily admits he enjoys gardening in the nude, Gardening Australia magazine has surpassed Burke’s Backyard in sales as it celebrates its fifteenth birthday.
Published by the Federal Publishing Company, the ABC title has no doubt benefited from the Nine Network’s axing of the Burke’s Backyard TV show almost two years ago.
However, Gardening Australia publisher Liz Stewart believes Burke’s Backyard’s on-air demise has mainly affected the ACP title, which has suffered an 11.7% drop in circulation results year-on-year to 84,920.
ACP Magazines’Burke’s Backyard editor, Erin Craven, says that while it did initially suffer from the closure of the TV show, the hit it took in sales is starting to even out. In readership terms it is still in the lead with a 2.2% year-on-year increase to 597,000, according to Roy Morgan Research.
“Our September sales figures were particularly great [90,500] so we’re bouncing back. What we’re doing now is changing our approach so that we’re moving towards the trend of seeing the garden as an extension of the home—whereas in the past the house and the garden were considered separately,” Craven said.
However, from a multiplatform perspective, Stewart said many gardeners now tune to Gardening Australia on ABC TV as well as Better Homes & Gardens on Seven, while the rise of pay-TV has also meant many top-quality gardening shows from the UK and US are now available to viewers.
“The lifestyle programs have definitely influenced the trend in gardening. The high home ownership and a desire to personalise your outdoor space has also been a factor. People of various ages are turning to gardening and listing it as a leisure pursuit,” she said.
Stewart added that there have also been many changes in the industry, such as the increase in the number of landscape designers, the property boom and the rise of superstores such as Bunnings.
And with Don Burke out of the picture (at least on TV), Gardening Australia’s presenter Peter Cundall, who has been with the show since its inception, is enjoying a renaissance. His passion for gardening and his eccentricity are proving to be popular with viewers, and he has even guest-starred on Network Ten’s Rove.
Stewart adds that Gardening Australia now focuses on attracting younger consumers and promoting gardening as a pastime for everyone.
“Younger people are embracing gardening as well. When they buy a house, gardening is associated with home ownership. There is also a desire to find cheap and effective ways of creating gardens or buying plants.”
