Garden Trends

Shrink the Lawn

Benjamin Vogt’s brand new book, Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design, is a nod to recreating prairie, meadow, and savanna ecosystems, and a DIY for those looking to convert lawn to something more sustainable. It’s not a look for every client or every property, to be sure, but those remotely interested in pollinators, biodiversity and sustainability may ditch part of the lawn in exchange for a lively bed of blossoms and host. plants.

Pollinator Garden

Save the Monarch Butterfly! Save the Honeybees! Plant Milkweed! Your clients hear the plight of pollinators in a nonstop news-cycle often linked to climate woes and habitat loss.“Our members are definitely saying the interest in pollinator-friendly plants is on the upswing,” says Diane Blazek, executive director of All-America Selections (AAS) and the National Garden Bureau in Downers Grove, Illinois. “Native plants are being requested more often. Questions about how much pollen and nectar are on plants are more common. Our pollinator-focused blogs on both the National Garden Bureau and All-America Selections sites are easily the most popular and get the most shares on social media.”

Gravel and Scree Gardens

They have increasing appeal because they’re viewed as lower-maintenance. Some readers will recall the wildly popular use of red or black lava rock in residential planting beds back in the 1980s. That’s not what today’s “rock” garden is about. Scree gardens are a cool trend with upright stone slabs and loose, weathered gravel and interesting drought-tolerant plants. You may have seen these formations at the bottom of a mountain or a steep hill. They provides excellent drainage because plants growing in this type of environment must be able to withstand hot, dry conditions during the summer and sub-freezing winter temps.