The Best U.S. Cities for Gardening Naked

Taking the traditional route when pruning your plants and watering your flowers is all well and good, but have you ever thought about what it might feel like to do it nude? Pulling weeds while wearing nothing but your birthday suit isn’t exactly a popular pastime, but enough people do it that there’s now a World Naked Gardening Day celebrated each May.

LawnStarter recently evaluated 500 of the biggest cities in the U.S. to determine which were the most suitable for naked gardeners. The criteria were broken down into categories: Nude Gardener Friendliness, Local Interest, Weather Forecast, and Safety. Each category was assigned a weight; LawnStarter then calculated the final ranking by tallying each city’s score within each group.

Curious to find out where’s cool with some au naturel gardening? Let’s look at the top 20 ranked cities:

To determine which cities had the highest “Nude Gardener Friendliness Factor,” LawnStarter looked at the number of nudists per 100,000 residents, local legislation about public nudity, and urban-gardening friendliness. The top 5 cities all had either no laws—or very lenient laws—regarding public nudity.

When weighing a city’s “Local Interest Factor,” the company considered its average monthly Google searches for terms like “nudist,” “naturist,” and “naked gardening” over the past year.

The “Weather Forecast Factor” was based on the rain, wind, and temperature forecast for World Naked Gardening Day, which fell on Saturday, May 4, in 2024; it’s no surprise that cities in warmer climates like Florida, California, and North Carolina made the list. The “Safety Factor” was based on the number of sex offenders per 100,000 residents.

The Dangers of Gardening Naked

LawnStarter’s “Safety Factor” didn’t account for some of nude gardenings biggest threats. It would be remiss of us not to note the elephant, or rather, the arachnid in the room. Even if you live in a city that seems appealing to nudists, getting down in the dirt without protection is still a one-way ticket to Bug Bite, USA. When gardening, it’s important to be mindful of ticks, mosquitoes, and other creepy-crawlies that can transmit devastating diseases. Wearing light-colored long pants tucked into tall socks, long-sleeve shirts, and gloves is advised. Some sunscreen and a hat would be wise, too.

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