Leaf 2018 in the past: planting trends for 2019

The New Year is always an exciting time, but even more so when it comes to plants and gardening! A new year often brings with it renewed opportunities and beginnings, as well as the arrival of plenty of fresh gardening trends for you to incorporate into your business’s grounds or garden. With spring just around the corner, this is the perfect time to give them a new lease of life for your staff and customers to enjoy.

In 2018, one of the biggest planting trends was the Verdure colour palette which mixed vibrant shades of purple with calming eggshell blues and natural greens. This year, we’ll be moving towards a brighter, fresher palette that heavily features warm coral tones. Last year’s focus on giving back to the wild with plants will also go one step further in 2019, with gardeners focusing on reducing the effects of climate change with the flowers they add to your displays.

Here are the top planting trends for 2019 and how to incorporate them into your garden…

Keep it Simple

This is less of a trend, and more something that will help you stick to plan and regular schedule with your gardening tasks, making it more easy for you to reach your goal of keeping your exterior spaces looking fresh and full of colour. Put simply, keeping your garden as low maintenance as possible will reduce the stress of maintaining it and make gardening more enjoyable.

The best way to do this is to remove any plants that are not in your grounds or garden for a purpose. This will help to make the garden less messy and will reduce the amount of work it takes to maintain your desired look. Hanging baskets are one great issue to consider as they are easy to care for, but they can really make an impact! For businesses, enlisting the help of a company like phs Greenleaf will also make it easier to maintain your exterior spaces as they will install your displays and care for them for you.

Plants for Changing Climates

Possibly the biggest trend for this year is planning your planting habits with the changing climate in mind. As far as UK weather goes, 2018 was an extreme year. We had plenty of snow from the Beast from the East, followed by one of the hottest and consistent summers on record.

According to Country Living, Designer Sue Townsend is creating more ecological gardens to cope with the changing UK climate. This means planning your garden around the weather and seasons. Plants that will put up with the coldest weather include flowers such as primroses, forsythia and camelias, and vegetables such as kale and chard. In fact, some veg, such as cabbage and cauliflower, perform best in the cold! In the warmer weather, it is best to have plants that store water, thus allowing them to survive off less.

Have a garden that gives something back

Continuing from the above, a garden that gives something back to you and the wider environment is another big trend for 2019.

A simple way to do this is with produce. It’s rather simple to plant and grow fruit, veg and herbs in gardens and indoors. Again, we suggest going for the easier to maintain options if you are starting off. Potted herbs such as rosemary are a great choice. Rosemary is a woodier herb and is therefore far hardier than herbs such as basil, which takes more maintenance. Another popular option is Kale. Kale does not only provide you with a super healthy green but will also fill your flower beds with a rich purple colour.

Another way to give something back is mindfully gardening. The bee population is decreasing rapidly and if it continues, it could have disastrous consequences. A recent study has found that The world’s most used pesticide has been proven to damage the bacteria found in honeybees’ guts. This makes them more prone to deadly infections. A way to help bees is to plant pollinator friendly plants such as Lavender and Californian Lilac.

The Secret Garden

There is a lot of hype this year about creating a private space in your grounds or garden. However, many examples require substantial landscaping with new walls and water features. We say plant your private retreat! Section off an area of your garden and use sculptural foliage to shape your desired space. Think tall plants and trees, hanging leaves, dense bushes and living walls.

Tip: remember what part of your garden gets the sun. It sounds silly but if you are creating a space where you would relax in the sun, it needs to be in the sun.

Colour Trends

Each year we see new colour schemes, and 2019 is no different. There has been a growing interest in gardening from a younger audience who are setting the trend for going a little bolder with their colours. This year it is expected that we will see less of the stone and rock bedded arrangements and more vibrant colour. Reds, purples, greys and blue grey are set to be favourites, while Pantone’s colour of the year is Living Coral. It’s nice to see the little nod to the environment and the upkeep of our oceans in this colour name.

For more information on planting tips and trends please have a look through our blog or get in touch.