Apart from being a new cliche used to describe the anaemic first signs of recovery, the green shoots of the nation's garden industry are booming on growing mainstream interest in sustainable production, the "buy local" movement and organic food.

Given higher unemployment over the past 14 months, people have been donning gardening gloves in ever-growing numbers, The Australian Financial Review reports.

Business analyst IBISWorld estimates that the gardening industry, comprising nurseries, retail garden supplies and gardening services, will be worth $3.36 billion this year.

After several years of water restrictions, when more than a thousand gardening businesses went to the wall, the gardening industry has been riding a countercyclical wave.

"Every cyclical depression, we as an industry normally have a really good year," Nursery and Garden Industry Association chief executive Robert Prince said. "The only time when we suffer is when the economy is flush with cash and people go overseas instead of tending to their gardens at home."