Posts Tagged ‘trend’
Change has come to America. The pop culture phrase, “show me the money” boiling throughout business and industry, has cooled down and is forcing people to take a hard look at what is really important in life. Now, along with belt-tightening and down-sizing there’s a welcome trend emerging: A return to Main Street American values. “Just look around you,” states Susan McCoy, trend spotter and outdoor living expert. “Our relationship with money has changed. Hard work, common sense and a return to small-town values are causing a shift in priorities from boardrooms to backyards.” According to GMG’s 2010 Garden Trends Report, “The rewards of growing your own – from basil to berries to flowers – are boundless,” states McCoy.
Here is a glimpse of what McCoy and her team of trend spotters see for 2010.
Main Street is in – Wall Street is out — There’s a shift of priorities between balancing practicality with comfort and fulfillment. “Core values of responsibility, meaningful relationships and connectivity to neighbors and communities are surging,” states McCoy, president of Garden Media Group. That “can-do” spirit empowered by a new sense of self-sufficiency is fueling a renewed appreciation for our land— defined more by nostalgia rather than geography; caretakers rather than developers. Yard-sharing with people — dividing resources, skills, space, tools, and time – is popping up to support our need to “go local,” strengthening our neighborhoods. We’re connecting to the soil and with apiece other, sharing the bounty and giving families food that’s more nutritious, tastier and less costly.
Edible Gardens are in! Growing your own groceries is hotter than ever and is transforming homes and communities. A current survey by the National Gardening Association shows a 19 percent burst of new hobby country farms and urban edible gardens over last year.
“It’s time to reclaim our land for our greater good,” states Margie Grace, the 2009 International Landscape Designer of the Year, awarded by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. “Take that food-producing garden from the back 40 and place it wherever we want. Reunite the ornamental with the edible—roses beside tomatoes, beds edged with herbs, and veggies used as annuals.”
Grace is one of many wanting to “de-lawn” America. Front lawns are being transformed into vegetable and rain gardens. ‘Hell strips’ are lining the wasteland between the sidewalk and the street with sustainable planting.
Gardeners with limited space are finding ways to have fresh herbs and vegetables in their kitchens. Innovative plant systems like Fertile Earth’s new Easy Gardens (www.fertileearth.com) comes with soil, seeds and how-to guide packed in stylish square containers that makes it a snap to grow kitchen gardens in any bright spot. Just add water.
Slow Gardening is in. Instant gratification is out. Domesticity is back. People young and old are returning to a simpler life of cooking, gardening, and even raising chickens! Produce sharing with community-supported agricultural farms and produce exchanges are springing up throughout urban and suburban and rural communities. The take-home message is: urban farming is cool; urban wastelands are not.
With the rising demand for locally grown food, organic and energy efficient products, people are gardening for the greater good. According to LOHAS –Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability- seed income are up 30-50% and canning saw a whopping 45% increase. Along with vegetables, people are planting and picking fruits and berries-especially blueberries and raspberries for their nutritional value and ornamental good looks.
Mindful is in. Bling is out. The collapse of greed and self-indulgence is ushering in a new culture of giving, creating and collaborating. Reflected in the Reputation Economy, sharing a passion and receiving recognition has replaced “taking” as the new position symbol.
A new patriotism of spirit – volunteering and a shift from ‘Me’ to ‘We’ – has trumped greed. The Ascendant generation of ‘GRUPS’ (30-to-50 somethings) are redefining adulthood with their young-at-heart lifestyle, driving demand for products prefabricated from recycled materials in sync with their focus on social and environmental issues.
According to National Marketing Institute, four out of five people state they’re still buying green products and services today–which sometimes cost more–even in the midst of a US recession. More than two thirds state they will choose green over traditional– “if it works”. Many new products on the market are designed to help sustain the environment. Space-age technology saves gardeners time and water. AquaLok™, a sustainable hydration system from Costa Farms (www.costafarms.com) is a self-watering system for plants prefabricated from recycled soda bottles, grants plants to thrive without drainage, and reduces watering needs by more than half!
For the do-it-yourself gardeners, add just a tiny GeoHumus (www.geohumus.com), a new soil additive prefabricated from volcanic rock combined with state-of-the-art super absorbents, to all your containers and new plantings. It stores water and releases it to the plants on demand. Environmentally harmless and long-lasting, it saves both time and money. An extra bonus, the 1-pound cup and 10-pound bucket packages are prefabricated of recycled plastic and can be either recycled or reused as a scoop or bucket to hold garden tools. Bottom line is folks want value, price and performance with a nod towards creating a more sustainable environment.
Eco-Boosting is in. Chemical Dependent Gardens are out. Get used to terms like eco-bounty and eco-frugal, eco-metering and eco-concierge that are sprouting up in blogs and social media. Green is the new black as consumers seek products that work with nature, not against it.
Demand is up for earth-friendly, sustainable and organic garden products, like the first OMRI Listed compost-based premium blend potting soil from Organic Mechanics® Soil Company (www.organicmechanicsoil.com). The caviar of potting mixes, the all-purpose premier blend is simple to use for all your planting needs.
For all-natural garden products and animal and insect repellants that are environmentally innocuous for people, pets and plants, turn to innovative companies like The Liquid Fence® Company (www.liquidfence.com). The company just released FreezePruf™ a revolutionary spray that helps plants withstand primeval start frosts and late spring frosts, extending the growing season by a couple of weeks in start and spring.
Multi-tasking is In. Single-Purpose gardening is Out. From California green buildings to New York high-rises, living (green) walls are allowing people even in cramped urban apartments to use a greater range of plants.
Roofs are no longer just for parties. Green roofs are springing to life in cities and small towns, transforming barren space into lush gardens that help cool buildings, absorb rainwater, filter air pollutants, and create wildlife habitats.
Rain barrels and rain gardens continue to remain favourite as people seek ways to conserve water and reuse and recycle. Businesses and homeowners are setting up rain gardens that collect runoff from buildings and landscape and helps absorb polluted runoff that threatens waterways. Folks are bringing the outdoors in with houseplants. Mini orchids from Costa Farms are affordable, simple care, and come in a wide array of colors that are perfect for decorating rooms and gift-giving. Indoor plants are living art accents that wage oxygen, remove carbon dioxide, and harmful volatile organic compounds, 24/7! Check out these natural air-cleaning machines at www.o2foryou.org.
Perennials and Shrubs are In. Divas are Out. Sustainable landscapes, water conservation, perennials and small edible shrubs are hot as gardening with natives attracts needed pollinators and birds, critical for the equilibrise of nature.
Consumers are looking for plants that are simple care, have great color, and are pest and drought resistant. Centerton Nursery’s new hardy primeval and repeat blooming daylily– Jersey Earlybird™ ‘Cardinal’ is a fire-engine red color that’s perfect in beds, borders and containers in Zones 5-9. Check it out at www.centertonnursery.com and earlybirddaylily.com.
Demand is up for sustainable hybrids like rhododendrons and grasses that wage great impact with tiny fuss. Look for a new hardy hybrid rhododendron and the first-ever tri-colored Hosta from Briggs Nursery (www.briggsnursery.com). Rhododendron ‘Trocadero’ is a compact grower with bright red trusses and Hosta ‘Trifecta’ is a drought tolerant stunner that helps shape landscapes with striking good looks and simple care.
Proceeds from The American Beauties™ Native Plant collection (www.abnativeplants.com) help support the National Wildlife Foundation’s Backyard Habitat program. Families are connecting with apiece other–and the earth– as purposeful gardening for wildlife catches on.
From the look of things, America’s seeing green as we all plant something for our future.
Related Outdoor Garden Articles
For those considering entering the home garden, the timing could not be better. This day there are two particularly interesting gardening trend might catch on the main roads and any method performed by both novice and experienced green Thumber.
The first method is called Square Foot Gardening. This is the kind of garden art, which affects some planning, but the garden is planted. Many focus on composting and raised beds in an area that is very precisely defined. Gardening method for areas that are less than optimal soil conditions or for people who have a very limited space to work, are suitable. All kinds of flowers, plants and vegetables can be grown in the garden is limited, including tomatoes, herbs, radishes, spinach, onions, carrots, green beans and lettuce. Climbing can be sustained by poles, or the power grid.
There are many advantages to square meter garden, because it’s very easy to make and factories, they are saint for beginners, they can be found nearly anywhere and they are easier to protect from insects and bad weather. They are also very efficient, because 100% of the harvest can be scheduled up to 20% of the country, as it were.
The second trend, in the garden to catch the water in a huge way over. People are naturally attracted by the sight and sound of water that many people build in their gardens, yards from the water damage. Water in the garden is growing in popularity because it provides great flexibility and gives much room for imagination. A water garden can be small ponds, waterfalls and a beautiful combination of stone and light. Most water parks, which started as a easy pond, aquatic plants, fish and other animals live and thrive. There is no need for massive parts of the pond into a lake as small as you want to build. You can use a slab of concrete for the pool, use a plastic tub or other things, purchase waterproof. Add to a small decorative garden search and you will be a wonderful addition to your garden to create. It is important to build a pond too well in a sunny location, such as fish and aquatic plants, many Sun There are many kinds of aquatic plants to select from a variety of fully float on the surface immersed in water lilies. Plants add oxygen to the water, the fish alive and help them wage sufficient and appropriate to the trash to intercept.