Will Your Garden Be in Style?

The folks at the Garden Writers Association and the Garden Media Group have taken a close look at what gardeners have been buying and considering buying for their gardens and although we still love gardening as a hobby, it seems we're looking to enjoy our gardens more and toil in them less. Almost all the trends identified for 2006 involve some aspect of getting more pleasure from less effort. For once the top gardening trends don't involve keeping up with anyone else. Apparently gardeners as a group are maturing and becoming more confident in their own ability to make choices.

1. Easier Care, Lower Maintenance
Fussy, tepremental plants are losing out to workhorses like hydrangeas and coleus. There's a renewed interest in 'native plants' and in site appropriate plants and less clammering for this year's it plant.

2. Small Gardens and Gardening in Small Spaces
Going along with less maintenance, gardens are becoming more personal and intimate. There is less dependancy on classic design and more self-expression. Gardeners are making use of all available space from patios to rooftops. They are also taking advantage of the many dwarf perennials, trees and shrubs on the market, like container fruit trees and Patio Clematis.

3. Decoring with Containers
Container gardening is extremely hot. Most popular is clustering groups of containers, or pot-scaping, and using containers within a garden border. Grouping multiple pots, each with only one type of plant is very trendy. Anything goes in a container, from annuals to perennials to dwarf trees or vegetables. The selection of annuals has increased greatly since container gardening took off, introducing a whole new lexicon with Bacopa, Calibrachoa, Surfinia, Biden and Penta.

4. Using Garden Art to Add Personality
Gardens are viewed as outdoor rooms as well as entertainment destinations. We're spending money on statues, bird baths, gazing globes and all the traditional garden art as well as sophisticated and high end furniture, lighting and electronics.

5. Emphasis on Foliage
Colorful foliage and texture, or what the Garden Media Group calls Boom without Bloom, continue to fascinate us. Coleus and white variegated plants are remain very popular and have been joined by an explosion of purple (Sambucus Black Lace Sedum Black Jack), red (Plectranthus hilliardiae Red, Tradescantia spathacea variegata), gold (Hydrangea macrophylla Lemon Daddy) and silver foliage (Athyrium Pewter Lace, Brunnera macrophylla Looking Glass).

Ornamental grasses are still top sellers, with sedges making headway in 2006, especially the new ground covers like Carex ciliatomarginata Treasure Island and Island Brocade.