Garden Trends – 20 for the 20s

It’s that time of year…

Chances are you’re starting to think about your garden. If you’re not sure where to take it we thought that with the start of a new decade it would be fun to have a go at predicting some of the garden trends and practices we’d expect to be seeing over the next decade. It might help inform some of the decisions you make in your own garden. So, in no particular order here are our 20 for the 20’s…

Purposeful. Gardens will be more than something to look at and enjoy; we think they will be increasingly designed and built to achieve things too. So, for instance, they might be helping to manage rain water within your property, or boosting wildlife habitat, etc.
Wildlife. We’d expect to see a more relaxed style to our gardens as supporting wildlife becomes ever more important. Increasing development plans brings with it decreasing wildlife habitat and we expect to see more and more people want to do more for our beleaguered wildlife.
GYO. As plant based diets, increasing food costs and the need to know where our food comes from continue to surge we’d expect to see more people growing their own.
Indoor. Houseplants sales have been a growing trend over the last few years and we’d expect that trend to continue, driven mainly by increasing urbanisation, pollution and lack of access to nature.
Containers. With increasing numbers of renters and gardens getting smaller and smaller container gardening is likely to make a big step forward as a portable, viable option for many dealing with little or no-soil spaces.
Vertical. We’d expect to see many more living walls appear driven mainly by lack of space and a changing climate.
Green roofs. Currently concentrated around London, Birmingham and Manchester we’d expect to see green roofs more widely spread around the UK. The benefits of them far outweigh any negatives.
Low maintenance. While we see the drivers behind people’s decisions about their gardens changing, time-poor people generally want to enjoy their gardens rather than ’maintain’ them.
Technology. Where there’s a will there’s usually an app for it! We expect the use of tech in the garden to grow over the next decade.
Sustainable choices. As awareness of the climate crisis grows we expect growing consumer demand for more sustainable options to elicit significant changes in garden related markets.
Soil. We expect to see soil care taking centre stage in gardens with no-dig outweighing dig methods, home composts and green manures being increasingly used.
Composting. We expect to see increasing numbers of people home composting driven by soil and waste awareness, and economics.
Organic. The organic market has seen consistent steady growth over the last six years and we expect to see that trend continuing through the next decade.
Plastic. Worth a mention of its own, the plastics battle is likely to rage throughout the 20s and beyond. In the design and gardening fields we expect to see a major shift in demand to natural and plastic-free materials.
RRR. We expect to see a buoyant reclamation sector emerge around the landscaping industry as people’s desire to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle materials grows. On more individual levels we expect to see a growing trend for personal upcycling/repurposing garden projects.
Water management. Future predictions for the UK weather points to hotter, drier summers and much wetter, warmer winters so water management is likely to play an increasingly important part of our garden planning.
Adaptive planting. Increasingly our plants need to cope with significant weather events so we expect to see more adaptive planting styles coming to the fore. Plants are likely to be chosen more for their adaptability than their looks.
Trees, shrubs & hedges. With their superior ability to help mitigate flooding, reduce temperature and support wildlife we expect to see a resurgence of tree, shrub and hedge planting across UK gardens.
Plant biosecurity. Increasing awareness of the potential import of foreign pests and diseases into our fragile eco-system will see the demand for reputable plant suppliers rise. However, with new customs practices and probable rise in plant costs we also wouldn’t be surprised to see a rise in black market plant sales potentially bypassing the plant passport system.
British grown. Linked to the above we expect to see a big rise in the use of British grown plants.

A House with Kerbside Appeal

Kerbside appeal - sounds lovely doesn't it? It conjures up all sorts of warm images that you really want your prospective purchaser or tenant to have about your property. We all remember, from various TV programmes, their suggestions of how to make someone have that warm and cosy feel about your home - consider baking bread or a putting a pot of coffee on so the smell emanates through all the rooms. But what about the gardens, what about kerbside appeal and what about a wonderful view from the lounge, kitchen or dining room window?

How many times have you heard friends or relatives saying they went out looking for a new house and did a 'drive by' (viewing that is, not shooting!!)? Nothing says 'first impressions count' more than this for the initial view of your home. Here are a few things you can do to enhance that kerbside appeal and the view from inside your home over the rear garden:

Weed the driveway, around the garage and near fences
Weed the borders
Prune the shrubs
Remove any dead foliage and dead head if it's the flowering season
Think hedges and edges – clip your hedge and redefine your lawn edges
Mow the lawn
If you've got climbers growing up the walls ensure that any wispy growth is gently tied in and ensure all views from windows are unrestricted
Rake up leaves in the autumn
Depending on the season lightly fork over or dig the borders to make them look fresh or simply cover with a mulch
Buy a few plants to fill any gaps that appear as you clear borders and prune existing shrubs
Brush and/or pressure wash your paths and driveways as required
If fences are looking unloved treat them with a coat of fence stain
Finally, place decorative pots either side of the door or along the pathway with a splash of seasonal colour to welcome your prospective buyers – you can always take them with you when you move!

Of course all of this takes time and money especially if you're buying new plants so why not start to gradually address some of the points above. When your estate agent comes to do the survey and take photographs you’ll want them to be able to capture your home and garden in its best light.

If you're thinking of renting your home the same points above still apply but it is understandable that you may be concerned about what state the gardens could become if the new tenant doesn't like gardening or really know what they are doing. Those precious and expensive plants you've bought or nurtured could be pruned incorrectly, may die or be left to their own devices and eventually smother out other plants. Changing the plants and introducing those that require less maintenance so they will pretty much get on with life with little intervention from humans is a good idea. Or, why not consider having a gardener come in and look after your garden on a regular basis? It could be a real selling point; after all it is a tough market out there so giving a busy tenant one less job to do might help and above all you would know that your garden was being looked after.

Here at Blue Daisy we help customers get their gardens ready for when they put their homes on the market, we maintain gardens so tenants don't have to get involved, we advise how to make the garden more of a low maintenance space and we help customers understand the potential of their newly bought garden.

So if this has whetted your appetite contact us at Blue Daisy - we might be able to help.