Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
Gardening Trends for 2023: What's New
and Exciting in the World of Gardening
In today’s digital age, gardeners have a wealth of information at their fingertips.
From climate-resistant plants to mental health-promoting spaces, 2023 garden
trends reflect an environment increasingly affected by information gleaned from the
internet.
Gardening businesses, such as nurseries, landscaping companies, and gardening
product manufacturers are taking advantage of the strength of the internet by
cultivating a robust online presence. By creating a website, optimizing posts for
search engines, and developing a cohesive and thoughtful brand identity, gardening
businesses can attract and engage with gardeners looking for information to help
their gardens bloom. For businesses that don’t know where to start, digital
marketing services such as Digital Spotlight can provide the guidance they need,
taking their business from seedling to flower.
Here are the internet-savvy gardening trends for 2023:
Climate-Aware Gardens
As gardeners face increasingly extreme weather, many are turning to hardier plants
to make it through all four seasons. While winters see increased rain and freezing
temperatures, summers see drought and high temperatures. The modern gardener
must take prodigious care of their current plants or research new and hardier ones.
To fill this need, native plants are becoming increasingly popular as they are
accustomed to the typical amount of rain and sunlight in the area. Native plants
generally require less watering and can be sourced locally.
In addition to planting natives, gardeners are turning to sustainable planting.
Sustainable planting is the practice of adding gravel or sand to the soil. This
decreases the nutrients of the soil and increases porousness. By creating nutrient-
poor soil with gravel or sand, plants are trained to be hardier and drought resistant.
Gravel and sand hold water more effectively and reduce flooding during heavy rain.
Additionally, adding sand or gravel to the soil discourages weeds from growing.
Climate-aware gardeners are also using their gardens as wildlife habitats. Using
clever sculptures and thoughtful planting, gardeners are creating havens for birds,
bees, and other beneficial animals. Perforated bee posts, pollinator-friendly native
plants, and layered planting provide crucial nutrients and spaces for wildlife.
Mental Health Oasis
As the pace of the world picks up, gardeners are looking for ways to slow down and
enjoy their space. To make their garden a place of relaxation and rejuvenation,
gardeners are turning away from over-manicured, minimal gardens towards lush
oases.
Garden colors are trending towards an abundance of greenery with pops of color.
Dark and muted leaves are contrasted with bright flowers for a sense of delight and
surprise. Observing these sensory details allows a busy mind to take a breath.
Gardens also function as a space to entertain friends and loved ones. Gardeners are
looking to make their gardens not only beautiful but comfortable places to lounge
or eat dinner. Comfy cushions and hammocks are replacing uncomfortable hard
furniture. The delineation between indoor and outdoor spaces is becoming
increasingly blurry.
Not content to leave their flowers outside, many gardeners are using their gardens
to grow bouquets to bring inside. With fresh flowers every week, the lushness of a
garden can brighten the indoor space and calm a stressed mind.
Cut flowers may join indoor houseplants in creating a soothing space, with many
gardeners scouring the internet for unique and beautiful houseplants to fill their
space. Many indoor spaces are festooned with crawling vines, big leaves, and bright
flowers.
Self-Sustaining
With many other needs to attend to, gardeners are looking for techniques that
benefit plants and cut down on work. No-dig vegetable gardens are prized for their
development of beneficial fungi and their relatively low workload. Proponents of no-
dig also cite disease resistance as a major reason to try out the method.
Other gardeners are trading in their manicured lawns for an overgrown, romantic
meadow. Called an eco-lawn, the meadow-style front lawn is beautiful and wild. By
embracing wildflowers and long grasses, gardeners can cut down on their labor and
their water bill.
Productivity and beauty are not reserved for those with a large backyard space.
Gardeners with small backyards, patios, or even balconies are utilizing their small
spaces to produce vegetables and flowers. By interplanting and layering, even a
small space becomes a lush pocket of green.
The New Cottage Garden
Gardening trends in 2023 create a new cottage garden. Filled with flowers,
vegetables, and wildlife, the cottage garden is a place to grow food and relax with
friends. A new cottage garden wouldn’t be out of place on the front of a magazine
or in an internet video about cottage-core. The modern gardener is looking for a
beautiful space that is climate-aware, soothing, and productive.
