So while I wait for the garden to thaw, dry out, warm up and generally become more pleasant for working in, I thought now's a good time to look at the gardening trends for this year. Ah yes, that old January chestnut. The thing with trends is that anybody can start one - and once started they can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Either that or everyone ignores them by February.
Anyhoo, here are mine:
Black & white We'll all be clamoring for flowers in these 'colours'.
Hardy evergreens Following the last winter, we'll be looking for evergreens that survive cold winters. This may include dwarf conifers; gawd, did I really say that?
Dahlias Yes, I know these have been back in favour in recent years, but I believe 2011 is the big one.
Cut your own OK, so I've stolen this one from elsewhere, but after the huge increase in GYO veg (which will continue to grow in 2011, but not as much as in recent years), gardeners will realise they can also save a fortune on visiting the florist.
Growing up with vertical gardening Yes, we all love our climbers, but I think there will be a huge increase in demand for these. And, as gardens get smaller, growing walls, veg walls, green walls etc will finally take off.
Green roofs Similarly, green roofs will start to become popular with gardeners - not just designers, scientists, those with huge estate gardens and 'greenies'.
* Research shows that covering walls and roofs with plants can cut down on your heating bills (see Gardening with a purpose).
Lawns Finally, we'll all get so miffed with our lawns that they'll finally revert to their natural states - or be given a good topdressing - of concrete, and converted to patios.
Gardening with a purpose We'll all wake up and realise that gardens aren't for sitting in and enjoying, but they are a wasted space and so should be used for some higher purpose - biodiversity, wildlife, food supplies and biofuels & green energy (this one is done a bit tongue in cheek!).
Does anyone else have anything better?
SEXIST TREE VALUATION ROCKS NATION
15 years ago
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That black petunia will soon lose favour when people realise that from the distance, their hanging baskets will look as though they've got lots of black holes in them.
ReplyDeleteDahlias - I agree on that one. But dahlia plant sales should rocket. For years, I've not bothered to lift mine until early December. Boy, did I get caught out this time!! I'm presuming they're all dead.
Absolutely agree on vertical gardening, too. Lots of people have more vertical surface than horizontal.
As for gardening with a purpose - I fully agree. Except that my 'purpose' for having a garden is to sit in it and enjoy tinkering about in it. The biodiversity bit comes anyway, if you garden sensibly. Those purposes are quite high enough for me, thanks. And for food supplies, I find that Morrisons and Sainsbury do quite well, especially when my crops fail because of neglect, or horticultural ineptitude.
Happy days,
Nigel
Nige
ReplyDeleteYou're right about dahlias - perhaps I should have added cannas, hedychium, bananas, succulents etc, in fact, anything tender/exotic that we've all been planting outside for the last few years, which are now all dead after the winter!
I'm surprised you didn't pick me up on dwarf conifers - or maybe secretly you're a fan!
Geoff