TRENDS IN GARDENING

                Gardening has been all the rage for the last few years.  No one is immune.  Even those of us who hardly ever see the light of day have been lured into experimenting with colorful flowers and plants, and have enjoyed decorating our homes for the season, both inside and out.  This has been an exciting trend.  Gardening has raised our awareness of many things, from ecology and the need to compost and recycle, to the way we use our yards and how we decorate them.

                Our enthusiasm for gardening is certain to continue into the new century.  In the next few years we will see changes in the way we use flowering plants, and even in their relationships with neighborhoods and the environment.

PERENNIALS ARE HERE TO STAY

                Perennials have well proven their worthiness.  Dynamic and constantly changing, they remind us of the passing of the seasons.  The wide and changing variety available to us allows us to create landscaping that is varied and distinctive.  Homeowners look towards landscaping that blends into the surrounding neighborhood, is distinctive, and reflects their personality.  Perennials are the perfect tools to achieve this goal.

FRONT YARDS THAT SAY “WELCOME” AND ARE “USER FRIENDLY”

                Gone are the stiff evergreen plantings that are characteristic of the homes built in the 1950’s and 60’s.  Gone also is the notion that good landscaping means broad sweeps of lawn bordered by trees and shrubs that are just pretty to look at.  Our yards may have become smaller, but are infinitely more liveable and usable.  The concept of “garden rooms”, the creation of an intimate, imaginative space, is often used to describe this trend.  Front yards have also become usable spaces, where, with the addition of a bench, a

visitor is encouraged to linger, enjoy or visit. 

                Architecture can also make the outside seem more accessible.  Homes are being designed or remodeled with porches, verandas, or with arbors and pergolas that are not simply attachments to the home, but form an integral part of the home’s architecture, gracefully uniting home and garden.

A SENSE OF PLACE

                Every community has unique qualities that are reflected in its landscape.  Reminders of the past history of the land, whether historical or ecological, surround us and provide a valuable link with the past:  an old orchard, a portion of a field fence, a hitching post, an aged oak, or a stand of dogwood.  The use of native plants, or non-natives well adapted to local growing conditions, can help connect homes and gardens to larger landscapes.  Materials for paths, walls, or buildings can be selected to reflect the colors and textures of the region, as well as the style and time period of the home or the neighborhood.  In the future we will be looking towards community development and landscaping to help not only retain, but to develop this much desired sense of place.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIENCE

                The gardening public is a knowledgeable one that has embraced composting, recycling, and using natural products.  In Stalking the Wild Amaranth:  Gardening in the Age of Extinction, Janet Marinelli insists that gardens are essential to save species and ecosystems, and that gardeners will be the environmental heroes of the 21^st Century who “reinvent our relationship with the rest of nature.”

MAINTENANCE

                Gardeners formerly armed with a pair of hedge trimmers and a lawn mower are learning that gardening with perennials is not necessarily more labor intensive, but does require knowledge and planning.  Currently there are two excellent books on the market that address maintenance:  The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust and Caring for Perennials by Janet Makunovich, who states that with proper maintenance “you can have a world-class perennial garden with an average of one hour of maintenance per hundred square feet per month”.

ANNUALS:  ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW

                Annuals will continue to delight us with their exhuberance, their color, and their vast numbers.  However, we are using annuals in a much different way than we have in the past.  Instead of awing us with large masses of color – lined up like soldiers, painfully tidy, and perhaps a little boring—we are once again beginning to value these hard working plants for their spontaneity and charm.  Many are “old-fashioned” and may date from our grandmother’s gardens.  Many are newcomers that we have warmly welcomed into our gardens.

                We are also learning to value annuals that can easily be integrated into the perennial garden, rather than used as a predictable spot of color near an entryway.

                The popularity of containers will continue to grow, particularly for urban areas.  Containers make decorating for the season easy, endlessly variable, and are perfect for limited spaces.  Verbenas, Helichrysms and Agapanthus have rapidly replaced the old Geraniums, Spike and Vinca Vine. The containers themselves are architectural and stylish.

GARDENING AS THERAPY

                Gardening is no longer considered a chore driven activity that you think of when mindlessly mowing the lawn, but instead a hobby that promotes creativity and peace of mind.  We need respite from our increasingly technological world.  Gardening is the perfect way to reconnect with nature.

                A Janet Macunovich says so well:  “At the risk of sounding irreverent - which I am not - the garden is also my church.  In it I find peace, spiritual lessons, respect for all life, and a metaphor for every human experience.”

Date:  February 10, 2000

Author:  Pat Hollingsworth

Pat Hollingsworth is a Landscape Designer at The Planter's Palette