GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s environmental horticulture industry is recovering from the recession of 2007 to 2009, and it is growing in many sectors, with $21.8 billion in annual economic contributions. This is an increase of 19.2 percent from 2000, a new University of Florida report shows.
The environmental horticulture industry, or the “green industry,” includes landscaping, nurseries, greenhouses, wholesale and retail distributors and allied manufacturing, said Alan Hodges, an Extension scientist in the UF/IFAS food and resource economics department. Those “allied” industries include firms that produce fertilizers, chemicals, mulches and other products people use in their landscapes and nurseries, Hodges said.
“The green industry has rebounded from the recession very well due to growing incomes and consumer demand for plants in other states. Additionally, housing and commercial development in Florida is on the uptick again,” he said.
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