>I haven't the slightest clue why you believe someone wouldn't garden when they rent.

I do. My sister likes to garden, and when she was renting she put a lot of effort into creating a large, beautiful garden.

Then the landlord decided she needed to move her ailing mother closer and terminated my sister's lease. After that my sister didn't bother with a garden until she bought a house.

As a landlord, I'd be pretty unhappy with tenants gardening on my land -- that's just an extra expense as I'd have to maintain it or convert it back when they leave. Maybe if they signed a long lease...

Hence "might" and the parenthetical "or at least not build a large gardening setup". To rephrase, without ownership of the asset, the renter (and landlord after contract signed) is less incentivized to "work the land" for whatever definition of that you have. Sometimes the setup (irrigation, structural changes, etc) is not worth it or not allowed to the renter. Also unfair to use your anecdotal opinion of whether or not to garden to keep from having the slightest clue why other renters might not.