While nobody knows when the coronavirus crisis will end, when it does, Karen Brien knows one thing will be for certain.
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"At the end of all of this, Canberrans will have the best gardens," she said.
The owner of Cool Country Natives nursery in Pialligo said there had been a surge of customers buying plants and garden supplies in recent days, as people head into self-isolation.
Ms Brien said as more people stay home, many are taking the time to carry out gardening projects and bring out their inner green thumb.
"People are buying more plants because they have more time and many are working from home," she said.
"People don't have the same hours they used to in terms of their travel and work and they have a lot more free time."
The nursery has implemented a takeaway-only service on the weekend to encourage social distancing on the back of the surge in business.
"The last weekend was ridiculous, there was way too many people, and we want to slow things down. People have been panic buying because they think we will close," Ms Brien said.
"We made a decision to potentially lose sales on the weekend but we need to do this.
"There are some people who are bored and want to come out to the nursery and bring their kids and dogs and hang around here all day."
Over at Greengold Nursery in Nicholls, owner Kieron Hart said its vegetable and vegetable seeds section resembled the toilet paper aisle at supermarkets with gardeners completely clearing it out.
"In about three days, we sold out seed stock that was equivalent to the entire season," he said.
"The last two weeks have been pretty significant. Last weekend alone was up 60 per cent on last year."
The owner said the demand for vegetable seeds and fruit trees were mostly driven from food-supply issues seen in supermarkets due to coronavirus.
"It's a lot of self-sustainable things, and people want to cheer themselves up and people ant to fill their gardens with colour and there's been a lot of interest in having more food production at their home."
It's a similar situation at the Heritage Nursery in Yarralumla, which has seen a 25 per cent increase in business since the coronavirus outbreak.
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The nursery's owner John Cassidy said potting mixture, manure and vegetables had been in greatest demand from gardeners.
"Considering we had a tough time in December and January and a stressful summer and people lost plants because of water restrictions, people have got more time around the home to beautify them," he said.
"We're seeing a constant flow of people, the mornings have been quiet and then it's a mad rush by the end of the day."
Hardware chain Bunnings Warehouse also said they had seen a spike in demand for gardening and hardware supplies in recent weeks due to the virus. Managing director Mike Schneider said customers had said projects around the home provided a useful physical and mental distraction from challenges of coronavirus.
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
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