Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Releases Top Six Trends for 2022 Gardens
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), an internationally recognized organization founded in 1827 and the producer of the world-famous Philadelphia Flower Show, has released its top six gardening trends for 2022.
Andrew Bunting, vice president of public gardens and landscapes at PHS said, “Adopting new trends offers gardeners the perfect way to revamp home gardens with new ideas and inspiration, while using gardening to promote year-round health and well-being. This list of garden trends for 2022 is ideal for gardeners of all interests and experience levels to incorporate into their own gardens.”
1. Utilize Native and Pollinator-Friendly Plants
Bring bees and pollen-loving insects to your gardens! Adding native pollinators to your garden is a simple way to support the ecosystem right from your own backyard. Pollinators are vital to creating and maintaining ecosystems and are crucial to agriculture. Plants like pycnanthemum, mountain mint, echinacea, coneflowers and liatris are all great at attracting these important insects.
2. Consider Turning Lawn Space into Garden Space
Did you know lawns aren’t great for the environment? Even removing a small piece of lawn and transforming it into garden space has the power to significantly lower fossil fuel emissions that would otherwise be applied to the lawn through regular trimming and maintenance. Your new garden space can also boost it’s positive environmental impact by being used as a pollinator garden, perennial garden, or even a vegetable patch.
3. Attend a Plant Swap and Make a New Friend
Connect with fellow gardeners and bring home new plants! A great way to incorporate new plants in your garden and gain expertise as a beginner gardener is through attending a plant swap. At a plant swap, attendees can bring their small plants, cuttings, potting soil, pots, or other gardening equipment and exchange them for something they don’t have. This is a simple way to diversify your garden, learn new horticultural skills, and connect with fellow gardeners. Many of these meet-and-greet style exchanges can be found in local gardening Facebook groups, so be sure to check online for groups in your area.
4. Try Gravel Gardening, Waterwise Gardening or Xeriscaping
Not great at regularly watering your garden? Thankfully, you can build a garden with hardy plants and low water requirements! With more and more areas of the country experiencing inconsistent weather patterns and periods of drought, planting gardens that require little watering or irrigation is growing in popularity. Gravel gardening offers just one way to cut back on water requirements, irrigation requirements, and fertilizer use in your garden through eliminating the use of soil. Xeriscaping refers to landscaping and gardening in a way that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. Gravel gardens and xeriscaping can incorporate a multitude of plants including a wide array of succulents in the Sedum species, as well as Sempervivum tectorum, hens and chicks, hardy cacti such as the Opuntia species, some ornamental grasses, Amsonia hubrichtii, threadleaf bluestar, and even yucca. Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s own Meadowbrook Farm has already embraced waterwise gardening practices and incorporated many of these species, alongside of many other garden spaces across the U.S.
5. Grow Your Own Fruit
With just a little space, you can enjoy your favorite fruits right from your own garden! Growing fruit is no longer reserved for those with orchards. Even just a few fruit trees can produce hundreds of pieces of fruit perfect for jams, jellies, cookies, ice cream, or simply eating as-is. Dwarf fruit trees come in many varieties including figs, mulberries, apples and pears, and are ideal for growing with limited space.
6. Cut Flowers Are Trending
Across the U.S., boutique flower businesses are incorporating more and more classic cut flowers like zinnia, dahlia, Papaver rhoeas, poppy, Cosmos bippinatus, cosmos, and Leucanthemum x superbum. The return to these timeless varieties of flowers demonstrates a shift away from the more non-traditional, eccentric, and often minimalist style common in modern floral arrangement today. From purveyors of elaborate homegrown cut flowers to the backyard gardener, cut flowers offer a rewarding means to immerse yourself in horticulture and experience the pride of growing your own flowers and sharing them with loved ones that will surely never go out of style.
PHS offers numerous programs and initiatives to rally community members around a common love for horticulture to promote healthy, green neighborhoods. For more information about its programs, and for information on how you can get involved, visit: www.phsonline.org
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