Gardening trends 2019 | Make sure your garden never looks outdated

Gardens are just as susceptible to trends as interiors, so it’s important to stay abreast of the latest trends to make sure your garden never looks outdated.

2019 has seen plenty of trends emerge, from climate-change gardening to ‘grow your own’. So if you’re looking to do things a little differently this year or fancy sprucing up your backyard, you’ll want to give one or all of these exciting new gardening trends a try.

Our rundown will take you through the trends we predict will make the biggest splash this year, as well as how to incorporate them into your garden and what they mean for the future of British horticulture.

Climate-change gardening

In the past few years, the UK has seen an unprecedented number of extreme weather events, from 2018’s aptly named ‘Beast from the East’ to this year’s continental heatwave.

With the effects of climate change becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, the task of creating a weather-ready garden has fallen on UK gardeners in a big way. Gardeners must now prepare for all sorts of extreme weather and are therefore growing only the hardiest of plants to make sure their plots make it through the year.

This has led many UK gardeners in the south of England to invest in plants typically associated with more arid regions, and those in the north to grow plants that are better at handling floods.

The issue of climate change has also crept further into the social consciousness, so gardeners are now trying to be more socially responsible and plant fewer species that require irrigation or pesticides.

Grow your own

With the rise of veganism and the arrival of warmer months in spring and summer, millenials and urban gardeners are becoming more interested in learning how to grow their own food, particularly fruits and berries.

With the uncertainty of Brexit, adopting a self-sufficient lifestyle makes sense. Where growing fruit requires comparatively less space than growing many vegetables, it also makes sense for the next generation of city growers to be growing fruit.

We spoke to Stephanie Harrod, a professional blogger and kitchen gardener, about getting started: “Growing your own fruit is great fun and helps thousands of people around the UK to get outdoors, look after their health and teach kids about where food comes from. To get started, make sure you pick a good spot with plenty of sunlight, plant in plenty of good soil and choose an easy crop – strawberries are a great choice for beginners.”

Mindfulness

The conversation around mental health has never been better. People now talk openly about their battles with mental health, and UK gardeners are beginning to combine their favourite pastime with a spot of mindfulness.

Introducing small changes to you garden, such as air-purifying plants or brightly coloured flowers, is a great place to start. Alternatively, if you really want to make a go of this trend, you can go the whole hog and set up a space dedicated to mindfulness.

To create a zen zone in your back garden, first think about which sort of mindful activity you wish to pursue. If it’s meditation, then think about how you can declutter your garden and cultivate a space that’s free of distractions. If you’re more inclined to do a spot of yoga, make sure you give yourself plenty of room and a comfortable floor on which to practice .

For those without a garden, you needn’t put your mental health on blocks. Introduce some mood-boosting indoor plants, such as lavender and peace lilies, to liven up your decor, or add oxygen-releasing snake plants to your bedroom to promote better sleep.

Interior meets exterior

This trend is all about making the most of your space – from divvying up the garden into smaller areas to extending your indoor living space outside.

Creating ‘rooms’ in your garden adds structure to your plot, and introducing encaustic tiles to your garden is an easy way of doing this. Either lay them along the lawn or path to delineate one section from the next, or install them in a small section of the garden to create an attractive seating area.

Another way of using flooring to great effect is installing tiles to blur the lines between indoors and outdoors. Laying the same tiles in your kitchen as your terrace will help to create a seamless transition from one space to the next and make your backyard look more spacious. Those were our picks for the gardening trends of 2019. If you’re hoping to revamp your plot this year, why not consider using one or a combination of these trends to inspire you? Incorporating just a few of them should help to make your life healthier, more sustainable and better prepared for the future.