As the new year begins, we can look ahead and start giving our gardens the love and attention they need. But if you’re looking for something more interesting than the mundane gardening activities such as mowing the lawn, weeding, and trimming the hedges then here are 10 key garden trends for 2022 to inspire you. It’s time to pull on your gardening gloves and try something new!
1. Dazzle With A Jewel Garden
The Jewel Garden and its origin
If you’re an avid gardener then you’ve probably already heard of Monty and Sarah Don’s incredible jewel garden at Longmeadow. In the late 80s, having both suffered commercial failure, the book The Jewel Garden tells the story of how incredibly vivid flowers bloomed around their muddy Tudor farmhouse. A passionate and incredible story not only about gardens but about spending time with family and friends gardening. Regular viewers of Gardeners World will know how beautiful this garden now is, providing sumptuous colours from early spring right through to the late autumn.
Creating the perfect Jewel Garden
When planting a jewel garden, you’re looking for flowers with vivid and rich colours such as emerald green, sapphire blue, gold and ruby red. When combined together, these colours will create a carpet of jewels shimmering in the sun.
To make a jewel garden work you’ll need two things. A sunny, sheltered location (moisture retentive soil helps) and the right kind of blooms. Plant a mix of tulips and alliums for brilliant early spring colour. Then turn to tropical cannas and the purple Abyssinian banana plant for their striking foliage; echinaceas, roses, dahlias, zinnias and crocosmia for vibrant flowers from summer into autumn colour. As the year progresses, you can always add to and move your plants to enhance your scheme and keep your jewel garden fit for a royal!
2. Embrace your wild side
What is naturescaping?
Naturescaping abolishes the aspiration of a perfectly manicured garden and instead draws inspiration from a natural landscape full of biodiversity and native flora and fauna. So, if you’re looking to embrace your inner David Attenborough, and have a passion for wildlife and the environment, then naturescaping is for you.
This emerging garden trend is all about creating the perfect natural landscape with a biodiverse habitat that supports local wildlife. This low maintenance style gardening adopts organic methods that work with rather than against nature. This symbiotic approach brings in beneficial bugs and birds that help keep a handle on garden maintenance, creating your own private wildlife sanctuary just outside your backdoor.
How can you create this
A naturescaped garden is one that looks ‘of nature’ rather than a carefully designed space. You can achieve this through a looser garden structure, which uses natural materials such as stone and wood. Veer away from bringing in plants that are not native to your area. Instead choose those that have been sourced and grow locally. You’ll find these blend better with your natural landscape and will support your local wildlife’s needs. As these plants are designed to adapt to your local environment, you’ll also find they need less care and attention than plants brought in from further afield.
Whether you choose to take the plunge and naturescape your whole garden, or start by rewilding a small patch, embracing your wild side and welcoming in new garden visitors is beneficial to all involved.
3. Showcase sustainability
Guilt free gardening
Following on from Naturescaping, another way you can partake in ‘guilt free gardening’ is to adopt sustainable gardening techniques. Although gardening is already a naturally sustainable activity, you’re probably wondering how to become even more environmentally conscious. Here are a few simple steps to help make your garden eco-friendly.
Cut out pesticides
Their damaging effects to various insect populations has proven costly for ecosystems. To eliminate pesticides, why not try using a natural method of pest control: companion planting. By planting various plants together, they provide mutual benefits. For example, if you’re trying to eliminate blackfly and greenfly from your plants, plant marigolds nearby as their strong odour deters these insects. Whereas the delicate blue flowers of Borage act as both a magnet for many pollinators such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies and a deterrent to an attack from the tomato hornworm.
Check out this plant companion chart to help you better understanding companion planting.
Create your own compost heap
Once you’ve started to slowly eliminate pesticides, try creating your own compost heap. There’s nothing more satisfying than ‘recycling’ organic waste into your own, healthy fertilizer. To become even more sustainable, rather than purchasing a compost bin, why not repurpose an unused area in your garden where you can deposit your compost.
Save water
As longer hotter summer becomes the norm, it’s important that as gardeners we do what we can to conserve water. Whether this is recycling grey water (water from baths and showers) to help water pots and containers. Collecting and using rainwater from water buts. Planting more drought tolerant plants. Or installing a water efficient irrigation system. We can all do our bit to reduce our water usage.
Upcycle and recycle
We’ve all seen the Instagram posts that feature fantastic ideas for reusing old bits and bobs that would normally have found their way to the tip. Not only is repurposing old objects a great way to reduce landfill, but it can create some truly unique feature for your garden that makes a wonderful focal point. You could turn pallets into planters or garden seating, give old furniture a lick of colourful paint, zhuzh up old cushions with new covers or turn an old ladder into a planting feature. A quick look at social media or visit to reclamation yard, will present lots of ideas for making do and mend.
4. Add a water feature
Adding water into a garden brings so many benefits. Wildlife will be attracted to it. While the calming trickle of water will soothe and ease away stresses or help to disguise the noise of busy roads or loud neighbours.
If you haven’t the space for a pond, a simple water feature of an appropriate size can help to create a serene sanctuary where you can escape the everyday. A contemporary water bowl is perfect for those tight on space and looking for something that doesn’t need to much effort to maintain. These wide low bowls with gently curved sides are easy to install and come in a wide range of materials. Once set up they provide a beautiful reflective surface that mirrors the sky and surrounding planting. A small fountain of some kind can also be introduced to create gentle surface ripples.
For something altogether more striking incorporate a water blade into a wall or larger water feature. These blades create your own miniature waterfall where water can cascade straight into a reservoir or wend its way down a tiered feature. Adding lighting creates stunning effects into the evening.
5. A luxury retreat on your doorstep
Over the last couple of years, those of us lucky enough to have gardens know exactly what sanctuaries they are. Providing somewhere to escape to from the stresses of work, retreat to for a bit of peace and quiet from the family, or to recreate the luxuries we normally enjoy on holiday.
This trend of treating gardens as a luxury getaway seems like it’s here to stay with garden owners adding swimming pools (including natural swimming ponds), hot tubs, garden spas, fire pits, heaters, and lighting to recreate a relaxing holiday vibe.
Rather than booking a return ticket to Barbados, why not bring a taste of Barbados to you and create a space that takes you to your favourite place. Look for inspiration with colours, flowers and objects seen in your destination of choice. Add an outdoor kitchen, sound system and lighting, so you can experience the true feeling of a minibreak in your own back garden.
2022 has just begun, so now is the perfect time to jump into these gardening trends. However, If you would like some help and guidance then we’re here to get our gardening gloves on with you. Drop us a line on 01628 629720 or ask@thamesvalleylandscapes.co.uk
