Gardening trends - do they really exist, outside the rarefied atmosphere of garden shows? And if they do, is it possible to predict them? After taking a whizz round the Web, looking at various opinions, I wonder. Here are some prognoses, home-grown and otherwise.
Managing Director of Hillier Nurseries and Garden Centres, Andy McIndoe, largely predicts 2014 as a year for:
- wildlife gardening
- plants for pollinators
- vertical gardening
- shrubs
Did you yawn? His choice is hardly thought-provoking, but pretty safe as a continuation of what's gone before, and no one can say that gardening moves fast. (You can't blame his plugging shrubs; he's got The Creative Shrub Garden coming out this summer.)
He also puts his money on green and white planting schemes.
Cue: Andy Newbould, a Yorkshire designer with a garden and grounds maintenance background, who unexpectedly observes: "People are increasingly choosing to have bright colourful gardens with bold planting with strong colours; no longer are gardens verging on designer monochrome."
Verdict? No trend. Some people will have subdued colour schemes. Some won't...
Newbould also foresees:
- fewer garden ponds
- more small entertaining areas (rather than large patios)
- more people using garden lighting
- wildlife planting
Ah, agreement. Wildlife gardening. But...on Landscape Hub Dave Sewell, Warwickshire landscape contractor, douses this idea with cold water. "Although [wildlife gardens are] a perennial favourite and interest is gradually developing, I'm always quite disappointed in how little interest my average client has in attracting wildlife and indeed gardening in a more sustainable way."
This echoes exactly what designer Caspian Robertson said to me at Hampton Court last year.
Verdict? No trend. Wildlife gardening will continue as a major occupation of the garden media. Less so for the public.
However, Newbould also notes that man-made and UK-sourced paving are replacing imported natural stone. Now, we could be onto something more - er - concrete (sorry) here. Gary Cobb, of Acer Paving and Landscaping in Wiltshire, contributes to the Landscape Hub discussion:
The biggest trend I've personally witnessed in recent years has been in the use of new materials. These include a big upsurge in the use of natural stone [pace, Newbould] and a whole host of man-made products, often using recycled materials such as artificial grass, gravel stabilisation grids, composite decking, plastics products."
And, if you think about it, the biggest impact in recent years was the all-encompassing and (to me) incomprehensible urge for decking. New materials are instantly available, instantly usable. It's far easier to create a fashion with stationary objects (think puke-provoking popularity of meerkat garden accessories) than gardening schemes.
Verdict? I'm with Gary, who says: "Landscape/garden design industry 'trends' are more about the new products available each year rather than being design led."
Despite this, however, I have a few predictions of my own, which I'll put in the next post. In the meantime, what about you? Do you foresee any garden trends for 2014 or is it just a waste of time?
...Landscape Juice Network
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