2025 Garden Trends: New Tech, Old World
2025 is here. It’s hard to believe we’re 25% of the way through this century. It seems like just a couple years ago we were all (at least us old folks) worried about the Y2K Bug. This next quarter century is going to push the boundaries of technology even further. Let’s fire up the A.I., put on a Spotify playlist, and head to the garden with 2025’s garden trends.
The Rise of A.I.
Artificial intelligence is shaking things up online and in the garden too. If you follow gardening pages online, you’ve probably seen these plant photos with jaw dropping colors and amazing foliage. There’s just one problem. They’re A.I. generated! I’ve even received inquiries through our website looking to see if we have “plant x” in stock, only to break the bad news to the customer that the plant doesn’t actually exist.
However, A.I. is still a useful tool. A keen eye might’ve noticed that the cover image for last week’s blog post was actually generated using Grok, X’s A.I. I also use A.I. tools to brainstorm ideas and help write website copy. Newer A.I. models can even help you with tasks like planning your garden with surprising local accuracy.
The Rock Garden
When I’m in the garden not recording a video for Bob’s Market, I usually have in my ear buds listening to a book, podcast, or Spotify playlist. Somewhat unsurprisingly, 81% of gardeners listen to music while gardening. If you’re looking for something to listen to check out our own podcast, The Keep Growing Podcast. Every Saturday during the growing season, you can expect an episode outlining garden tasks for the week ahead. Since we host the podcast on Spotify, I’m also in the process of building out some gardening playlists. I have a wide range of musical tastes so my own listening ranges from classical to classic rock.
Old World Gardens
In our recipe this week, I mentioned my wife’s obsession with Cotswold fashion, gardening, and food bloggers. This next trend plays into that. It is the idea of lived-in, established gardens. More homeowners are opting for purchasing larger, more established plants when buying trees, shrubs, and perennials. This choice also helps the value of your landscape. Established gardens can add as much as 12% to your property value.
Along with this is the overall “lived-in” style. Antique terracotta, garden tools, and furniture is hot right now. Just like antiquing for your home, gardeners are doing the same for their gardens.
Finally, along with the Cotswold inspiration is the hedgerows that line fields in that region. Living fences are a huge trend in the US right now, and there is a couple practical reasons for considering them. First, a living hedge adds to the biodiversity of your landscape, especially if it leans into the trend within the trend of creating “diverse” hedgerows with multiple species of hedge plants. Secondly, they’re much cheaper than building a fence. Sure, it takes time to grow, but you get a privacy barrier that is much more pleasing to the eye.
Foraging
Collecting both edible plants and plants for arrangements is another growing trend. This goes beyond local favorites like morel mushrooms and ramps to other, less well-known plants. Just remember to do two things when it comes to foraging – harvest ethically and also harvest safely.
Color of The Year
This year’s Pantone Color of The Year is Mocha Mousse (17-1230 TCX). This warm, chocolaty brown goes great with gardening. Think rich browns for outdoor furniture, beautiful garden soil, and plants with dark foliage like heuchera, ornamental grasses, and many others.
These are a selection of trends that I have seen over the last year heading into 2025. Hopefully, it will give you some inspiration for your own landscape for the upcoming year. Now is the time to get inspired and plan for warmer days ahead.
