What will our gardens look like in 2025? The thing about opinions is that everybody’s got one. The same can be said about predictions.
One group with a pretty good track record is Katie Dubow’s Garden Media Group, a public-relations company serving plant breeders, nurseries and others in the green industry. Its annual Garden Trends Report forecasts how environmental, fashion, food, retail, media and other trends will trickle down into the gardening realm.
In 2006, GMG foresaw the beginning of the native plants movement; in 2009, it predicted a surge in vertical gardening; and in 2018, the mainstreaming of forest bathing.
So, what’s in store for gardeners this year? I talked with Dubow and other experts:
In the U.S., 84% of newly built single-family homes sold in 2022 were part of a Homeowners’ Association, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So, it follows that Dubow foresees more homeowners trying to differentiate their HOA properties from their neighbors’ without running afoul of the rules.
Planting living fences that incorporate various plant types, including native species that support wildlife, will impart an eco-conscious individuality to cookie-cutter property borders.
Floral foraging is another naturalistic trend predicted for next year. That means going into your garden or into the wild to gather shrub and tree branches, stems and flowers, and using whatever you find outside to create something beautiful to bring inside.
“People are craving a connection to nature,” Dubow said, “and foraging helps them do that.”
Most people don’t have designated raised-bed cutting gardens, said Megan McMullen, learning and development manager of Homestead Gardens, which has three store locations in Maryland and Delaware. “But they do have landscaped garden spaces, and we wanted to help them think about those spaces in (untraditional) ways,” she said.
So, over the past year, the nursery offered customers a series of foraging workshops, during which participants learned how to select wild elements and prune shrub parts to use in homemade bouquets.
To ensure a steady supply of foraging materials, McMullen recommends giving careful thought to interesting year-round elements like seedpods, cones and twigs when selecting garden plants, rather than just planting for summer flowers and foliage.…Read more by