The media loves to find trends for every segment of life from clothing fashion trends to home styling trends. As gardeners, you may be aware that the Garden Media Group (GMC), a public relations firm in Pennsylvania, forecasts yearly gardening trends. It has been doing so since 2001.
(Courtesy: Mark Thompson at flickr.com)
Insect Gardens
One of the gardening trends that it sees for 2019 is the creation of more gardens that benefit insects. According to GMC, there has been a 75 percent decrease in flying insects during the last 30 years. In fact, according to the United Nations, there is a high risk of extinction of pollinating insects including bees and butterflies. In fact, the UN warns that 40 percent of these critters could become extinct.
As a result, GMC is predicting that more insect-friendly gardens with native plants and flowers that attract insects and help them flourish will be created. The group also advocates adding ponds, compost heaps and other insect-friendly habitats to your property and protecting big trees as well as leaving some areas somewhat wild to assist insects over the winter.
Another trend GMC predicts for 2019 is “RoboGardening.” This includes robot lawn mowers and tillers. These robots can operate for up to three hours due to solar-power. Moreover, GMC has noted that scientists are creating robotic bees. Research in Japan and Russia indicates that these automated critters have been 37 percent successful in pollinating flowers.
Gardening App
For those of you who are now relying on smartphone apps to assist in your gardening pursuits may be interested in the GKH Gardening Companion app. This app is one of a number of gardening trends and is said to offer just about anything a gardener would want. It includes:
• Gardening information at your fingertips including thousands of articles with photos and YouTube videos.
• The ability to help you create your own customized gardening magazine based on your personal tastes and preferences.
• Tracking your garden’s progress and permits you to create your own gardening journal. The app is designed to incorporate the camera of your smartphone. It provides you with automatic updates on the weather in your region of the country and allows you to compare last year’s garden to this year’s.
• Reminders to help you care for your garden.
• The ability to share your garden with friends online.
The app is free for Android devices and can be downloaded from iTunes in a few months.
Retail Sales
The 2019 Gardening Trends from GMC also notes that retail sales for gardening-related products are up. For example:
- American gardeners spent a record $47.8 billion in lawn & garden-related products from bulbs to furniture.
- 18 – 34-year-olds account for up to 29% of all gardening households, a record high.
- Consumer horticulture creates more than 2 million jobs.
- In the last few years, Millennials were responsible for 31% of houseplant sales.
