I've been thinking about garden trends ever since a reporter from a local magazine called me last week to ask about what's new in gardening. I was tempted to say "Who cares? Just get out there and dig..." Gardening is such an age-old practice it's weird to think about trends. Yet environmental pressures, new products, changing weather patterns and our own evolving tastes and interests keep gardening fresh.
Each generation discovers for themselves what appeals about gardening, whether that be hunting down cool new perennials from remote countries, or raising radishes in the back yard.
So before the list appears in...I think it was Seattle Magazine...here it is on "Plant Talk" in the hopes you'll join the discussion about what you see going on in gardening this spring:
1. Growing your own groceries - vegetables, herbs and fruit. Most of us don't have room, time or inclination for a separate vegetable patch so we're mixing edibles in with ornamentals...the trend is spurred on by multi-tasking plants like blueberries, strawberries, artichokes, sage, and lettuces that look great in the garden, are easy to grow and delicious.
2. Bringing the garden indoors - cutting flowers, branches and leaves for simple, handmade bouquets. Fashioning arrangements from your own garden is satisfyingly fun and expressive, and you can be sure the flowers on your nightstand or dining room table are organic, fresh and local. The bouquet above is in a vase called "carrot top" from Whidbey artist Johanna Marquis, the fowers are a spring assortment from my garden.
3. Easy-care small shrubs like spireas and daphnes that look good year round, and don't need pruning or dividing. Ditto with small grasses like hakonechloa and carexes.
4. Gardening to attract and nurture wildlife - plants for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds
5. Succulents are drought-tolerant, low-maintenance, tough and handsome - surely succulents are the most modern of 21st century plants. Nurseries now stock an exciting selection of hardy succulents in a wide range of colors and textures.
So what am I missing? Please comment below and let me know what you think is driving gardening these days...
Consulting with hundreds of clients annually, our design team has seen a real sea-change in clients expectations and outlook. This has presented a real challenge to landscape architects, designers and contractors, as we adjust to these new demands. In addition to the expected requests for tighter budgets, we are also seeing a number of common themes.
These include new homeowners that have bought foreclosure properties or sites that they may not have previously been able to afford. These properties may be more expansive and present design challenges to address on a limited budget. More commonly we are finding folks that are adjusting to the thought of keeping their home rather than selling and now expand their living spaces into more use-able outdoor space, whether it be a covered garden room, addition of a firepit to gather round or a raised urban garden.
Finally, the 2010 winter slammed a range of plants that we once thought hardy, and as a design/build company with a nursery, we have been left scratching our heads to create new, bulletproof plant selections that provide evergreen consistency, punchy seasonal color or reliable bloom in our slow roll into summer...
Posted by: Alan Burke, asla | April 29, 2011 at 08:46 AM
I may be speaking purely from a personal viewpoint, but I think I'm more interested in less formal, more natural designs, working with natives and 'right plant right place' ideas to keep things in line, rather than cosseting and cutting back and pruning.
Posted by: Ruth Armitage | April 29, 2011 at 08:54 AM
Adding to your #1 growing veggies/fruits in containers. Water gardens continue to be a trend.
Big-leaf plants and tropicals are still "in" I think.
Great post!
Posted by: Grace | April 29, 2011 at 09:19 AM
Organic gardening, once thought to be very left of center - even in gardening circles - is finally gaining acceptance. Even the big box store chains now stock a full line of organic supplies. Is it a trend? Possibly, but hopefully it becomes the status quo.
Posted by: BBOGardening | April 29, 2011 at 10:15 AM
Simplicity....I think Ruth nailed it. Who wants complications, the garden is suppose to be a destressed retreat. We should never force something that shouldn't be. Simplicity. Newly transplanted to Dallas from PNW.
Posted by: Kathy Abrashi | April 29, 2011 at 04:10 PM
Airplants - tillandsia. Very popular at the moment.
Posted by: Gillian | April 29, 2011 at 05:59 PM
Oh, and terrariums..
Posted by: Gillian | April 29, 2011 at 06:06 PM
Art in the garden
Posted by: Becky | April 30, 2011 at 07:57 PM
Having to garden exclusively with NW Natives, I am learning a whole new plant vocabulary. Also learning and experimenting with fruits and vegetables vertical and in containers. I also talk to a lot of people who are interested in learning to compost as opposed to paying to have their yard waste hauled away.
Posted by: Calvin | May 02, 2011 at 03:33 PM
Container gardens are a huge deal this year, even more so than last year it seems. In particular combining edibles and ornamentals. My own business is booming for people wanting this useful and practical element in the garden!
Using container gardens as a way of stretching the landscape design dollar is a big theme as well. Growing a smaller specialty plant into a larger size for a few years while it lives in a happy combo is a trend that seems to be growing on quickly in this economy!
Posted by: Christina Salwitz | May 02, 2011 at 03:57 PM
Another trend in gardening that seems to be "growing" is the CSA....community supported agriculture...and it's perfect for those who don't have the room or time for a garden but still want fresh, local produce.
They're "sprouting" up all over!! :)
Posted by: Chris | May 02, 2011 at 04:32 PM