MY NEW YEAR PREDICTIONS
Get set for classy pinks, historic veg and healing woodland walks
THE way we look after our green spaces has undergone a transformation in the past few years. Lockdowns made us realise how important any outdoor area — whether it’s a balcony, windowsill or garden — can be to our wellbeing.
Gardeners also gained a new understanding of the need to be more sustainable. Hotter, drier summers and wetter winters are convincing us of the need to ditch peat, harvest rainwater and adapt to the changing climate.
What will 2024 bring? One thing is for sure, nothing ever stays the same in a garden. Here are my predictions:
MORE TAKE-UP
THE more of us who catch the gardening bug, the more people we pass it on to. A new book out, How To Garden When You’re New To Gardening (DK, €18.69, Eason)) is ideal for getting started.
One of the highlights of this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May will be the ‘No Adults Allowed Garden’ designed by children for children, with a den set in a pool of water.
CUT THE COSTS
YOU can still create a beautiful garden on a budget. Next month, social media star Anya Lautenbach (aka @anya_thegarden_ fairy) is bringing out her first book, The Money-Saving Gardener (DK, €20.99) with tips on how to propagate plants for free, repurpose containers, and make your own compost.
CO-ORDINATED COLOURS
LEAFING through seed catalogues, the flowers are as colourcoordinated as any fashion show. Subtle pinks are in, such as the dark-flowered wild carrot
Daucus carota ‘Dara’ or the faded maroon of Echinacea pallida. Apricots and peaches from the fast-growing foxglove
Digitalis purpurea ‘Dalmatian Peach’ to the buff-coloured Calendula officinalis ‘Sherbet Fizz’ are also fashionable.
HEIRLOOM VEGETABLES
AS MORE of us grow our own, we are increasingly looking for interesting varieties not found on supermarket shelves.
Chiltern Seeds sell Good King Henry, a naturalised wildflower with juicy arrow-shaped leaves which can be cooked like spinach or added to a salad, and Cottagers kale, which was mentioned by Charles Darwin in the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1860 (chilternseeds.co.uk).
TREES TO THE RESCUE
SHINRIN-YOKU or forest bathing is the ancient Japanese art of spending time under the canopy of trees to reconnect with nature and ourselves.
It’s the concept at the heart of the Muscular Dystrophy Forest Bathing Garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, created by RHS Young Designer of the Year, Ula Maria.
A restful grove of silver birch trees (Betula pendula) will be underplanted with woodland plants such as Geranium sylvaticum ‘Mayflower’ and wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca).
TIMELESS SPACES
OUR passion for visiting historic gardens shows no sign of abating, but those who manage these spaces are rethinking them for future generations. Play areas, hiking trails and quirky food offerings are among the twists being incorporated to encourage more families to visit.