Let there be light ...and other gardening trends for 2019 T
HIS week, I’ve asked old friends and new from the gardening industry to gaze into their crystal balls and share their thoughts, predictions and hopes for the year ahead in gardening.
Caroline Owen, right, is a gardening industry stalwart, and the managing director of Cambridgeshire’s wonderful Scotsdales Garden Centres. She feels that the major trend for 2019 gardens will be one already in evidence... that they are being used as an additional room.
Decorating that room with containers and garden ornaments such as lanterns will be as popular as planting in it. As for plants that will be popular she tips flowering bulbs such as Agapanthus and Nerines.
Last year’s hot summer weather will encourage cooking and entertaining outdoors “and with Brexit affecting us all I think a retreat to the garden will be a main priority for 2019”, she says.
One of the UK’s best garden creators, Mark Gregory, inset, of Landform, Agapanthus is tipped for success agrees. He tells me outdoor kitchens will continue to be a big trend with higher-end, all-singing-and-dancing models being extremely popular.
LED lighting will continue to dominate garden illumination and coloured lighting is on trend. Artificial lawns are becoming ever more popular along with an increasing interest in quality artificial plants and green walls. New systems which allow a mix of real and artificial planting are catching on.
For garden planting, Mark says pleached trees are on the up, and an increased interest in the planting style which mixes formal topiary spheres with grasses and perennials. Box (Buxus) is just about done due to its decimation by pests and disease, with Ilex crenata and pittosporum beginning to take its place.
Porcelain paving for outdoor Lighting brings life to summer evenings Pittosporum is the new Buxus flooring has arrived and large flags are dominating the market due to their price and the fact that digital printing means almost any desired effect or finish can be reproduced.
Mark also feels that there is definitely a movement to create edgy urban gardens using industrial-style metalwork and upcycling. Gardens containing outdoor bars and cooking areas in this style appeal to the younger and uber-cool market.
Catherine Mansley, pictured, features editor at BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, is definite about trends and gardeners’ responsibilities.
“Houseplants will continue their meteoric rise in popularity, becoming more mainstream and with a broader variety of plants available to buy from a greater range of shops,” she says.
“Environmental concerns about plastic will have a growing impact on the way we garden and the way we buy plants.
“We’ll see a rise in alternatives to plastic and a greater desire from consumers to be able to recycle more plastic.
“It’s becoming more unacceptable to garden without respect for the wider ecosystem – be that supporting wildlife or conserving water and using resources wisely.”
George Williams, right, from the SmartPlant app tells me that “to accompany the unmissable rise of the urban garden, modern plant owners are looking for ultra-simple care advice